The strike at the Teva Tech factory came to an end on Thursday evening, after a memorandum of understanding was signed between the company and the Histadrut labor federation. The 1,100 employees at the Teva-Tech plant at Neot Hovav in the Negev have gone on strike three weeks ago over their salaries and work conditions.

Teva Tech workers assembly during the strike (Photo: Histadrut – Negev Region)

The employees claim that 60% of the plant’s employees earn the minimum wage, even when working on weekend and holiday shifts. 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.”

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