The Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) has called a strike at several companies and public services today, in protest at the extensive layoffs announced at pharmaceuticals company Teva. The strike will last until 12:00, and covers all government ministries and agencies, the airports and seaports, the banks, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the courts, insurance companies, telecommunications companies, local authorities and other institutions. Hospitals are working on a Saturday. The railways and schools are not affected.
A statement from the Histadrut last night said, "The solidarity strike is part of a wide campaign on behalf of the workers at Teva, the future of local industry, encouragement of production in Israel, and a necessary step to strengthen the standing of working people in Israel."
All Teva’s sites in Israel will be shut down today. Teva employees will not turn up to work, and demonstrations have been arranged outside several Teva offices and plants. Protesting workers have blocked main roads in Jerusalem, Petah Tikva, and Netanya.
Prime Minter Benjamin Netanyahu said at the star of the weekly cabinet meeting today, "This week, together with the minister of finance and the minister of the economy, I will hold a meeting with Teva CEO Kare Schultz. I spoke to him by telephone last week and told him that our primary goal was to minimize the harm to employees. The second thing is of course to do everything possible to avert the closure of plants in Jerusalem. The third thing is to ensure that Teva remains in Israel. It has thousands of workers here, it was founded and grew as an Israeli company, and we want it to remain an Israeli company. We will use the various means at out disposal to try to attain these goals."
Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay, said via Twitter, "Kahlon and Netanyahu's conduct in the Teva crisis is like a person who starts to get ready to face an earthquake after it has happened. Too little, too late. That's no way to run a country. A government headed by me will formulate - in advance, as it should be - a plan for any scenario in which firms that have benefitted from tax breaks on a scale of billions of shekels choose the easy solution of mass layoffs. That's how a country should be run."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 17, 2017
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