Longshoremen ended a week-long work slowdown at Haifa port today but port foremen started a slow-down of their own worsening congestion in Israel’s busiest harbor. The Haifa foremen acted in sympathy with foremen who started a slow-down earlier at the port of Ashdod, about 40 miles south of Haifa.
Port Authority Chairman Aharon Remez said today that he was considering asking the government to Issue mandatory bock-to-work orders. “We shall not tolerate a situation where every group of workers seeks its own justice, if it is justice at all,” said Remez, a former Israel ambassador to Britain.
The longshoremen’s slow-down created a backlog of citrus cargoes on the Haifa docks at the peak of the citrus export season. Several ships waiting for a loading berth have departed with empty holds. The Haifa dock workers announced meanwhile that they would not work ships diverted to Haifa from Ashdod. Several factories have advised the Manufacturers Association that they were running short of raw materials due to the congestion at Haifa and may be forced to shut down unless work at the port returns to normal.
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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.
