Labor strife flared today on a variety of fronts in Israel and threatened to worsen. Ashdod, the second largest seaport, was paralyzed this morning by a wildcat strike of foremen. A production slowdown by bakery owners in response to new wage demands created long bread queues outside markets and the bakers have threatened to shut down altogether unless the government allows them a substantial price increase.
Medical personnel at public hospitals and clinics gave notice, as required by law, that they will begin a slow-down and possibly a strike in 15 days. And the owners of diamond polishing shops have threatened a general shut-down unless Histadrut calls off a strike that hit one of the workshops yesterday.
The labor troubles at Ashdod pose the most serious immediate problem as they come at the peak of the citrus export season. There are 34 ships docked or waiting for berths at Ashdod and others have been diverted to Haifa where port congestion has again become a serious problem. The Haifa port management blames the Ashdod workers for the conditions.
The situation was complicated by a dispute between the Ashdod foremen and longshoremen. The latter, idled and deprived of wages and overtime by the foremen’s strike, decided with the approval of the Port Authority to install their own foremen. The port was functioning by early afternoon but the foremen, angered by the action of the stevedores, broke off negotiations with Histadrut leaders to settle the strike. Clashes between foremen and longshoremen are expected as tension rises on the docks.
BARLEV’S TEST OF FIRE
Israel’s bakery owners have demanded a 20 percent increase in the price of bread if they are to meet the wage demands of their employes which exceed the guidelines worked out between Histadrut and employers organizations. The government is loath to approve the hike on so basic a commodity as bread because it would wreck the cost-of-living calculations on which current wage and price policies are based. As a result of the bakers’ action, housewives were waiting in line for hours for the small quantities of bread being delivered to groceries and supermarkets.
Only pitta, the flat Oriental bread, is readily available. The bakery dispute is the first major problem confronting Israel’s new Minister of Commerce and Industry. Haim Barlev, who took office yesterday. A cartoon in one newspaper depicted the former Israeli Army Chief of Staff as a loaf of bread being shoved into an oven under the caption, “His First Test of Fire.”
The medical workers’ dispute is potentially the most serious of all as it affects government and municipal hospitals and clinics maintained by the Histadrut sick fund. The issue is a complaint by the employes that medical personnel, particularly department heads, are not being promoted in accordance with the provisions of their contracts.
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