The Israel Government last night announced the appointment of a three-man commission to investigate the lockout in the metal products industry which has thrown 2,500 people out of work and halted one of Israel’s major industries.
Meanwhile, the Histadrut has called a nationwide sympathy strike for either Wednesday or Thursday for two hours. Minister of Trade and Industry Yaacov Geri has cancelled his trip to England to help spark the Israel campaign there because of the threatening labor situation, but Finance Minister Eliezer Kaplan plans to proceed to London as scheduled.
A resolution supporting the lockout and demanding “equal treatment” by the government for various sections of the country’s industry was adopted here today at the biennial conference of the Israel Manufacturers Association. At the same time, the delegates voted in favor of compulsory government mediation in all labor disputes.
The conference authorized the executive of the Association to extend the lock out to other industries, if necessary. It decided to forbid all manufacturers from entering into negotiations, either collectively or individually, with their workers as long as the dispute in the metal industry remains unresolved.
The delegates a voted to establish a mutual aid fund to assist the manufacturers now affected by the lookout as well as plant owners who may be affected in the future. It reelected Arieh Shenkar president of the Association and honored him by deciding to create several scholarships in his name at the Hebrew University and to establish a trade school bearing his name.
Speakers at the conference criticized the government, alleging that it has approved strikes for higher wages when such increases are not justified by conditions in industry. The government’s economic policy was also criticized here at a meeting of the General Zionist Party of Israel addressed by Dr. Peretz Bernstein, head of the party. The gathering also heard Dr. Emanuel Neumann, American Zionist leader, who urged that Israel Government officials be replaced in the leadership of the world Zionist movement by Jewish personalities active in Zionist organizations outside of Israel. He reported on the role played by Dr. Abba Hillel Silver in mobilizing American aid for Israel.
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