Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) chairman Avi Nissenkorn has called a general strike for Sunday morning in solidarity with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), which is planning to fire 3,000 employees in Israel.
Sitting alongside the heads of all Israel's major workers committees including the 7 Teva workers committees, Nissenkorn announced that all public employees, public transport, Ben Gurion Airport, health fund clinics, the banks and stock exchange would strike Sunday morning until midday in solidarity with the employees of Teva, while an open-ended strike at Teva itself would begin.
Teva CEO Kare Schultz will announce the company's streamlining plans today as the pharmaceutical giant struggles to repay the $35 billion debt assumed to acquire Actavis.
Nissenkorn said, "Teva has received NIS 22 billion tax benefits since 2006. NIS 22 billion that Israel's citizens gave to the company. They knew how to take it and now they are turning their back on the country. The Israeli government cannot turn its back but must demand a genuine solution and vision. We have proved before that when a company is in trouble we rally to the cause."
He added, "It is inconceivable that Teva's board of directors is unmoved when it wipes out Teva in Israel and wipes out the vision of those who founded it. Where is the human dignity? Teva's employees are spread out throughout the country from Kiryat Shmona to the Negev, in Jerusalem, Ashdod and Shoham. They are workers who are proud of their places of employment." "Teva, the flagship of Israeli industry, has become Israel's industrial ruins.The company rose through an invention at the Weizmann Institute but today is throwing away its status as an Israeli company and abandoning the vision of its founders as an Israeli development company. It would not have happened if the founders were still on Teva's management. Those who do not know the past do not know the future."
"Those responsible for this mess are the board of directors and management. They conducted failed deals and put hundreds of millions of shekels into their pockets. The current CEO received a signing on fee of $20 million and we see the workers carrying the burden."
"The entire country stands in solidarity with Teva. The banks, stock exchange and public transport."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 14, 2017
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017 .