Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz today threatened to arrest the heads of the workers committee in the ports if they continue to ignore the orders issued by the Labor Court to stop their strike.
"Unfortunately, there are interested parties who don't think about people, and want to use blackmail to get their way," Katz said. "I won't let this happen. The court ordered them back to work, and I directed that emergency orders be issued. If they don't obey the emergency orders, we'll demand that they be arrested as criminals, because they're sabotaging the Israeli economy and damaging Israel's status."
Katz added, "They're causing damage. There was no reason for this strike. We're acting according to court orders. It's unacceptable for them to disobey court orders. If the test comes now, we'll stand up to it."
The minister emphasized that the port reform that the workers were protesting would continue. "I spoke with the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) chairman, and he made it clear that he wasn't backing them. We won't allow them to stop the reform and damage Israel's image. They'll lose if they put us to the test."
Yesh Atid Party chairman Yair Lapid, in whose term as Minister of Finance the port reform began, commented, "There's no coalition or opposition in this wildcat strike. We support the government completely in this case. Don't make any speculation; we're not entering the government. We're staying in the opposition… This is a wildcat strike by interested parties."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 28, 2015
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