Pri Hagalil workers and Histadrut to fight factory closure

Workers at a Pri Hagalil production facility in Hazor Haglilit were shocked on Friday to arrive at the factory and find that the company had locked the gates and placed guards to prevent entry.

According to a report in Maariv, on Friday the general manager of the plant, Moshe Ephraim, informed more than 200 salaried workers that they were being placed on unpaid leave until further notice, effective immediately. The plant, the largest canning facility in the country, also employs over 300 non-contracted workers who were also locked out of their jobs.

Factory owner Zaki Shalom announced that the factory will not open on Sunday morning and that all operations will move to another factory that he also owns.

The closure comes after a dispute between Pri Hagalil owners, employees and the government that has been brewing for several months. The owners of the financially strapped factory claim that they were promised a NIS 18 million subsidy by the government in order to continue operations.

The Finance and Industry, Trade and Labor ministries maintain that Pri Hagalil has failed to meet the criteria to warrant such assistance. In November, the factory attempted to dismiss more than 50 employees, a move which was successfully blocked by the employees and the Histadrut labor federation.

Maariv quoted Ephraim as saying that in addition to the government not providing the financial assistance that it had promised, they also have recently lowered the tax on imported tuna, which has destroyed the local market.

Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini was quoted as saying that closing the factory is an abuse of the employees. He called on the factory to immediately re-open their doors with no preconditions and for the management to keep promises made during previous negotiations.

In early January, during talks with the Finance Ministry, Ephraim pledged that the workers will not be fired for the time being.

Eini has scheduled a Sunday afternoon strategy meeting between factory worker representatives and officials from the Histardrut to explore possible solutions.

Labor party head Shelly Yachimovich referred to the Pri Hagalil closure as an act of violence and has called upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intervene.

Knesset Finance Committee chairman, Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) said that he will also ask the prime minister to prevent the shutdown and said that the current government has done nothing to save the factory. Gafni called the closing a “death blow” to Hazor Haglilit, the small northern town in which the factory is located.

According to a Haaretz report, the factory is not losing money and is in fact still slightly profitable, but management plans to move production to facilities in Holon and Nahariya, where operating costs and municipal taxes are lower.