Yesterday (July 23) at 11:00, factory owners from Mishor Adumim (the industrial zone of the West Bank settlement, Ma’ale Adumim) contacted striking workers on the picket line at Zarfaty Garage, demanding they leave immediately or be subject to violence. The workers are members of the trade union WAC-MAAN. The police of Ma’ale Adumim then arrested WAC-MAAN Coordinator Yoav Tamir, calling him a public disturber, despite the fact that the picket line had been coordinated with them. The police later released Tamir with an order forbidding him entry to Mishor Adumim for two weeks. This order prevents him from doing his job as a labor organizer as permitted by law. Nor is the restriction in line with his behavior: it was he who called the police to the site when roughnecks threatened him and the workers. Tamir is appealing the restrictive conditions of his release. The next morning the General Secretary of WAC-MAAN, Assaf Adiv, was arrested while picketing with striking Palestinian workers in front of the Zarfati Garage in Mishor Adumim, the industrial zone of the West Bank settlement Maaleh Adumim. Zarfaty workers called a legal strike two days ago following the dismissal of Hatem Abu Ziad, Chairperson of their Workers’ Committee. The cooperation between the police and the Zarfati Garage is viewed by us as an effort to break the workers’ attempt to organize, so that the Garage and other enterprises in Mishor Adumim can continue to benefit from cheap labour without benefits. WAC-MAAN is today petitioning the Israeli Labour Court to issue an order against the dismissal of the head of the Workers’ Committee , against the unlawful hiring of strikebreakers, and against the use of threats and violence by the garage. WAC-MAAN will insist on its right to represent workers and on their right to organize. We will not allow threats and bullying to deter us from protecting the right to make a living with dignity, regardless of religion, race, and nationality.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 09:06:45 +0000
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