Benjamin (Benny) M. Cohen & Co., Law Firm

Benjamin (Benny) M. Cohen & Co., Law Firm specializes in the labor relations field, in its broad sense. The firm, which was established in 1987 by Adv. Benny Cohen, is considered one of Israel’s leading firms in its practice area, and has vast experience in various aspects of labor law, from salaries and collective labor law, through pension and National Insurance, and up to handling individual claims against employers. The firm’s clientele includes national workers’ unions, general trade unions, workers’ unions in banks as well as employees in public services and the private sector.

Collective Labor law

The firm mainly focuses on active involvement in the support and management of collective labor relationships crises, from determining the source of conflict and the legal and organizational strategy, through the direction of the conflict resolution steps, outlining actionable options and alternatives for various situations during the conflict, and active collective negotiations, up to the formulation of salary, work and workers’ rights agreements, including up-holding rights in privatization, merger, transitions, and acquisitions, and ongoing support for the relationships between the workers unions and the employers – in both the public sector and the private sector. The collective practice area is headed by Advocates Benny Cohen, Eliyahu (Eli) Cohen, Karen Kutas-Amitay and Esther Hershkovitz-Ronen.

Prominent Clients

Trade unions and workers’ organizations: The Navy Officers Union, The IDF Workers Union, Clalit HMO Union, Tnuva Workers Union, The Israeli X-Ray Workers Union, The State Workers and the Extra-Administrative Unions of the Ministry of Foreign Affair.

Workers Unions in Banks, Investments Houses, Credit and Insurance Companies: Workers of “Discount”, “Leumi”, “Poalim”, Union Bank, “Mercantil”, “Jerusalem Bank”, TASE, Psagot, “Mehish” (owned by Mizrahi Bank), Union Systems (owned by Union Bank), CAL, Diners Club, Shaba, Bank Clearing Center, Phoenix Insurance, Phoenix Pensions, the “Makefet” Workers Union.

Workers Unions in Industrial Companies: “Kaniel”, Taro Pharmaceuticals, ICL Haifa, Fertilizers and Chemicals, Har-Tov Cement.

Workers Unions in the Defense Industry: Israeli Military Industries, Han Factory, Rafael, Galei Tzahal, Research Workers in the Nuclear Research Center (Soreq), and administrative staff in the Nuclear Research Facility (Kmg).

Port Unions: Zim, Harbor Pilots in Ashdod Ports.

Additional Unions: The Assuta Hospital Workers Union, The Senior Academic Staff Union of Shenkar College, Ben Gurion University, Haifa Municipality Workers.

Practice Areas

Organizational Changes, Mergers, Acquisitions, Transitions and Privatizations - The firm has vast experience in accompanying organizational changes, mergers, sales, and privatizations. These fields gained momentum in recent years, in light of the strengthening trend for the privatization of governmental and public facilities. The firm’s operations include supporting the workers’ representatives in collective agreement negotiations with the owner or the management, to protect the workers’ rights, supply a “safety net” for the transition period, and receive an appropriate monetary bonus that would express the workers’ contribution throughout the years. The firm pioneered the practice of assembling integrated teams of attorneys, economists, lobbyists and media experts for handling workplace crises, from initial stages, before the declaration of a dispute, and up to the signing of a collective agreement. This initiative arose from the understanding that successful struggles require comprehensive professional planning, to achieve the best results.

Prominent privatizations and organizational changes that the firm handled - The First Privatizations in the Banking Industry: Union Bank, Discount Bank, Leumi Bank; counsel and support for TASE employees during the TASE Structural Change, counsel and support during the merger of Union Bank and Mizrahi Bank, as well as counsel and support for: Mishkan Bank in the merger with Poalim, Arab-Israeli Bank employees during the merger with Leumi, Discount Mortgages employees during the merger with Discount, Otzar HaHayal and Masad banks employees during the ownership transfer to IBIL, Otzar HaHayal’s bank employees during the merger into the IBIL, Co-Op employees during the sale to the Dudi Weisman-Bronfman Group, Tnuva employees during the struggle to receive sale bonuses, the Israeli Military Industries in the factory sales, Technical Units of Rafael’s employees during the process of transitioning the latter from a unit of Ministry of Defense to a governmental company. Adv. Benny Cohen and his team personally support employee representatives before and during the organizational changes.

Union-Management Relations - The firm handles ongoing working relationships between unions and management teams, in various sectors, And also advises committees on matters based on the Histadrut Constitution, the Unions Code and the collective agreements that facilitate the position of the union in front of the management.

Personal Labor Law - The firm also handles private labor law and provides diverse services in advice and negotiations before signing personal work agreements, representations in hearing procedures, monetary lawsuits, and requests for temporary/permanent legal bodies. The firm has a particular specialization in responding to internal, external and State Comptroller audits. Adv. Ami Fraenkel, who heads this area, has vast experience in collective and personal labor law.

Salary Breaches - This practice area focuses on the representation and support of workers unions in the civil service as well as workers and pensioners, in demands by the Salary Commissioner to cancel salary benefits and other payments that weren’t approved by the Commissioner.

National Insurance - Representation of workers before the National Insurance Institute and insurance companies as well as before medical committees.

Senior Citizens’ Rights - Representation of retired citizens receiving funded and unfunded pensions in legal proceedings.

Representation in the Knesset - The firm represents clients in various committees and monitors the committees’ agendas, the government decisions, and the bills, as well as locates labor-related topics, and reviews their potential implications on workers. This area is headed by Adv. Meir Assaraf, who specializes in public policy and has a Knesset Lobbyist Permit.

Litigation - The firm handles litigation in the field of collective and personal labor law.