Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini yesterday notified the chairman of textile company Tefron Ltd. (Bulletin Board: TFRFF; TASE:TFR) Jacob Gelbard that the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) has become the company employees' official representative by law. The call was made three days after "Globes" disclosed that Tefron employees joining the union.

More than a third of Tefron's employees joined the Histadrut, the threshold at which the union officially represents all employees, by law. Eini's announcement means that the Histadrut can now negotiate with Tefron's management on behalf of its employees, and, if necessary, it can launch labor sanctions and other industrial actions.

In a press release, Eini said, "I hope that within the next few days, we can meet with the banks, representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor in order to rescue the company and save the jobs of 1,000 workers whose livelihood is in jeopardy. We're talking about a normally profitable enterprise, which got into trouble in the past year because of the economic crisis. This is an enterprise deserving of aid. It should be realized that 100 unemployed persons will cost the state much more than injecting capital into the company. We're not talking about a lot of money. If Tefron closes, it would be the height of stupidity."

In a separate matter, REIT 1 Ltd. (TASE:RIT1) notified Tefron that it had not paid its $219,000 rental payment for December on time. REIT 1 said that Tefron has asked to renegotiate its lease, and that REIT 1 was reviewing its options.

Tefron's share closed at $2.80 in New York yesterday. The share rose 1.7% in early trading on the TASE today to NIS 11.40.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 7, 2009

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