After being locked out of store, Kika employees to receive salaries

Petah Tikva court freezes bank account of troubled furniture store and orders that workers be paid

Employees of the closed Israeli branch of Austrian furniture chain Kika can expect to receive their withheld April salaries within a few days, after the Petah Tikva District Court froze Kika’s bank account on Sunday and ruled that the payments be disbursed within 72 hours.

Hundreds of store employees staged a rally after finding the Netanya store closed Thursday, a day after being told that their April salaries could not be paid due to financial distress. The Globes financial news site estimated that since opening in September 2011, the Kika Netanya branch has accrued debts approaching NIS 146 million.

The Histadrut labor federation, which represented the employees in court, welcomed the court decision. “We will use all the tools in our disposal to preserve the rights of workers,” said Histadrut representative Moshe Samia to Channel 10 on Sunday.