Some 500 employees demonstrated today (Thursday) opposite the Tel Aviv government offices demanding Channel 10 continue to operate. Among them: Journalist Union’ Hadash and Communist Party activists The demonstrators called to the PM and to the Finance and Media Ministers to reach an agreement to allow the gradual payoff of Channel 10 debts and attacked the government social and economic policies. They carried signs captioned “Save Channel 10,” “Fighting to Make a Living,” and “Reinforce the Pluralism in Media.”

Channel 10’s directorate announced yesterday it will freeze dismissal notices that were sent to 150 workers. The firings have been suspended, for now, in response to an appeal from Histadrut labor federation. The Channel 10 workers committee responded by e-mail: “We welcome the change in the directorate’s position, and look forward to the full removal of the dismissal threat.”

The Journalists Union said in response, “A labor dispute was declared last night. There were clear instructions from the Histadrut and the workers committee at today’s emergency meeting that the workers would not accept the layoffs. No employee will appear at the hearings and all letters will be returned to management. The workers intend to continue working normally and will ignore the layoff notices.”

Channel 10 faces a NIS 60 million deficit and its directors warn that this could lead to its closure. In January the channel’s franchise agreements expire, and as things stand Channel 10 will not meet requirements for a permanent broadcasting license. Meanwhile, the channel, which is perceived to be more left-leaning than channels 1 and 2, remains the target of right-wing forces.

The “Israel Society for the Public’s Right to Know” has launched a campaign calling for the channel’s closure. The society’s members include Nobel Prize laureate Yisrael Aumann, former MK Geula Cohen and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sister-in-law Daphna Netanyahu. In the past, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Energy and Water Resources Minister Uzi Landau headed the group. Prof. Eli Pollak, a former chairman of “Professors for a Strong Israel” and now head of the Public’s Right to Know, declared in a statement sent to the media: “More important than the workers’ interests are the interests of the wider public, and those require that the channel be shut down.”