Court orders troubled food factory to reopen

The Nazareth Regional Labor court ordered the Pri Hagalil canned food factory on Monday to let employees return to work at the cash-strapped plant after workers barricaded themselves behind its gates over a work closure.

The court accepted a request from the national Histadrut Labor Union for the factory management to be instructed to reopen the facility for its 220 workers.

Judge Myron Schwartz handed down his verdict to one party only, after factory management representatives did not turn up for the court session, claiming they did not receive the summons to attend in time.

Histadrut labor federation Chairman Avi Nissenkorn welcomed the court decision, saying it would prevent the management from exploiting the specter of closure and firing the workforce during ongoing talks with the government for more funding to keep the factory open.

“The Histadrut turned to the courts in order to make sure that no one can use workers as hostages and as leverage to apply pressure during negotiations,” he said.

The factory management said it respected the court’s decision but would appeal against it. In the meantime, the employees were due to return to work on Tuesday morning, and were to be paid their wages for the previous two days even though the factory was not in operation.

Employees at the food processor in northern Israel barricaded themselves next to the factory Sunday morning to protest the management’s failure to reopen the cannery following a closure last week.

Workers locked the gate of the plant and erected a protest tent just outside, blocking anyone or anything from entering or leaving the facility located near Hatzor Haglilit.

Union chairman Moti Haziza, who announced the blockade, said the employees were tired of being the victims of other people’s failures. He said the workers would remain inside until the factory returned to normal operations.

On Saturday night, the plant’s management announced that the factory would not open on Sunday, despite being granted a special business permit by Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch to reopen after being forced to close down last week.

“Pri Hagalil employees are not pawns in the hands of management or any other body. The plant must be reopened immediately in respect for the workers, whose only crime is that they want make a decent living,” a statement put out by the workers union Saturday read.

Last week, Pri Hagalil sent its workers home on a forced vacation after management said it was unable to pay for a business permit to keep the facility open.

In February 2012 workers arrived at the factory to find the gates locked as management threatened to close down the site. The factory reopened several days later after the government promised to transfer more funding.

The Pri Hagalil factory, which produces canned and frozen foods, was founded in 1951 and is one of the largest employers in northern Israel.