Workers at the Teva-Tech plant in the Negev went on strike Sunday morning in protest against their pay and work conditions. The workers have been demonstrating by the gates of the facility, located in Ramat Hovav, which belongs to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. The employees claim that 60% of the plant’s employees earn the minimum wage, even when working on weekend and holiday shifts.
From Sunday workers have been demonstrating by the gates of the plant, located in Ramat Hovav (Photo: Histadrut Negev District)
Teva-Tech workers committee chairman Avraham Zohar said, “Teva’s management has decided not to negotiate on a salary agreement, and is offering the same proposal for all the plants, a pay hike of 5% over five years. The problem is that management is perpetuating the gaps between the center and the periphery. In central Israel, the average salary is around NIS 13,000, but in the south, the average salary is NIS 4,500. In effect, management is willing to give residents in central Israel a pay hike of more than NIS 3,000 under the agreement, while employees in the periphery will have to make do with just NIS 400. We won’t lend a hand to the perpetuation of these differentials at the company. We cannot survive another year on these salaries.”
Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) Negev District Chairman Meir Babayoff said, “The employees at the Teva-Tech plant, which is a hazardous chemicals plant, earn starvation wages. We should ensure that the employees will earn a fair wage as workers at a hazardous chemicals plant who produce for the company its huge profits. It’s important to understand that these workers are fighting to put food on the table. We’re ready for a long strike here.”
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