Hundreds of employes of the government-owned Haifa Shipyards demonstrated today to protest the payless furloughs of indefinite duration enforced by a Jerusalem district court order yesterday.
The order was obtained by Amiram Blum, the government-appointed temporary receiver whose task is to try to rehabilitate the money-losing shipbuilding and repair facility on Haifa Bay. He said last night that only 10 workers will be kept on at full pay for essential maintenance work. The employes, joined by their families, threatened to barricade themselves inside the shipyard.
Haifa Shipyards has lost millions of dollars in the last two years. According to Blum, when he was named receiver a week ago, its losses were flowing at a rate of $600,000 a month. The Shipyards, a civilian enterprise, has built missile boats for the Navy as well as oceangoing merchant vessels and harbor craft. But slashes in the defense budget have reduced naval construction, and merchant shipping is in a world-wide slump. According to Blum, the Haifa Shipyards can be salvaged, though he would not say how long it might take.
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.
