Seventy thousand workers downed tools this morning in a brief strike in sympathy with the 7,000 metal workers whose wage demands brought about a shut-down in the Israel metals industry affecting 260 plants. Essential services were not affected by the strike.
High Government circles and officials of the Histadruth, the Jewish Labor Federation, predicted settlement of the strike, probably by this week-end, following direct intervention by the government.
Premier David Ben Gurion and Minister of Trade Yaakov Geri spent last evening in conference with representatives of labor and industry in an effort to bring about settlement of the dispute. They stressed the necessity of settling the dispute which has closed down one of Israel’s major industries and has caused a loss of $1,500,000 in production in the metal industry alone.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.