Case Number

AAA 9241/09

Date Decided

7-8-2010

Decision Type

Appellate

Document Type

Full Opinion

Abstract

Facts: The respondent, the Ashkelon municipal government, issued a tender for the provision of cleaning services. The tender documents set a minimum bid price in accordance with the exact amount of the wages for cleaning workers as determined in a government circular establishing a national standard for such wages. Respondent 2 submitted the lowest and ultimately winning bid. As part of the tender process, respondent 2 explained its ability to pay the minimum wage while also covering expenses and earning a profit by noting its expectations that a percentage of its workers at any given time would not have acquired enough seniority to entitle them to pension and other benefits; thus, savings with respect to the compensation of its workers would allow the respondent to cover its expenses and earn a minimal profit. The lower court upheld the award of the tender to the respondent, noting that the tender itself had included no requirement regarding the seniority of workers and that the bid was therefore entirely acceptable. The appellant, which had tendered unsuccessfully on the basis of a higher salary cost, appealed.

Held: The appeal against the lower court’s decision was allowed in full. There is no ground for distinguishing between the rules governing this matter in a national government context and the rules that apply to local government; recently enacted regulations and government directives make clear that the upholding of workers’ rights is of paramount importance and will be a relevant consideration in government tender decisions, because of the administrative authorities’ obligations vis-à-vis the public. Although it is impossible to predict or to prevent every possible violation of workers’ rights through the tender process, a government authority issuing a tender to contract for services with an external party must nevertheless provide as much forward-looking protection for the contractors’ workers as is possible. Thus, when a bidder has expressly stated a plan to dismiss workers after particularly short periods of time in order to minimize the burden of social benefit payments, the bid cannot be accepted.

Appeal allowed.

Keywords

Administrative Law, Contracts -- Government Contracts, Labor

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