Two investigating committees arrived in the port city of Ashdod today to look into riotous May Day disturbances at which marching jobless workers clashed with police and shattered windows in two buildings.
One committee of five members was sent by the Histadrut, Israel’s Federation of Labor, one of the targets of the May Day rioting. The committee has instructions to report back Sunday to Secretary General Aharon Becker. The second committee was sent by the Mapam Party, The party’s Parliamentary faction plans to ask for early debate on the problem of unemployment.
The arrival of the two committees coincided with the emergence of threats of a strike and a lockout at the Leyland Truck Assembly plant, the largest factory in Ashdod. A layoff of 90 Leyland workers was one of the factors in the May Day riot. The Leyland management warned the workers yesterday that the plant would be shut down if the 300 workers carried out a strike threat. The local Labor Council thereupon decided to hold a vote by all 300 workers on whether to strike.
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