[:en]At 8:30 this morning the General Secretary of WAC-MAAN, Assaf Adiv, was detained while picketing with striking Palestinian workers in front of the Zarfati Garage in Mishor Adumim, the industrial zone of the West Bank settlement Maaleh Adumim. The workers began the strike two days ago in light of the Zarfati management’s ongoing refusal to negotiate, which peaked with the firing of the head of their Workers’ Committee Hatem Abu Ziadeh.
Later in the day Adiv was released on condition that he not enter Mishor Adumim for two weeks. (The police also attempted to add a condition that he desist from meeting with the workers or management, but this was dropped.)
Adiv’s arrest followed on yesterday’s detention of WAC-MAAN activist Yoav Tamir when he too stood with the picketers. The police later released Tamir with an order forbidding him entry to Mishor Adumim for two weeks. This order prevents him from doing his job as a labor organizer as permitted by law. Nor is the restriction in line with his behavior: it was he who called the police to the site when roughnecks threatened him and the workers. Tamir is appealing the restrictive conditions of his release.
The cooperation between the police and the Zarfati Garage is viewed by us as an effort to break the workers’ attempt to organize, so that the Garage and other enterprises in Mishor Adumim can continue to enjoy cheap labour without benefits.
WAC-MAAN is petitioning today the Israeli Labour Court to issue an order against the dismissal of the head of the Workers’ Committee, against the unlawful hiring of strikebreakers, and against the use of threats and violence by the garage. We have also demanded from the police legal advisor that the police stop interfering with the freedom of the Zarfati Workers’ Committee to organize and protest.
For additional details, call Michal Schwartz: 050-4330067
[:de]At 8:30 this morning the General Secretary of WAC-MAAN, Assaf Adiv, was detained while picketing with striking Palestinian workers in front of the Zarfati Garage in Mishor Adumim, the industrial zone of the West Bank settlement Maaleh Adumim. The workers began the strike two days ago in light of the Zarfati management’s ongoing refusal to negotiate, which peaked with the firing of the head of their Workers’ Committee Hatem Abu Ziadeh.
Later in the day Adiv was released on condition that he not enter Mishor Adumim for two weeks. (The police also attempted to add a condition that he desist from meeting with the workers or management, but this was dropped.)
Adiv’s arrest followed on yesterday’s detention of WAC-MAAN activist Yoav Tamir when he too stood with the picketers. The police later released Tamir with an order forbidding him entry to Mishor Adumim for two weeks. This order prevents him from doing his job as a labor organizer as permitted by law. Nor is the restriction in line with his behavior: it was he who called the police to the site when roughnecks threatened him and the workers. Tamir is appealing the restrictive conditions of his release.
The cooperation between the police and the Zarfati Garage is viewed by us as an effort to break the workers’ attempt to organize, so that the Garage and other enterprises in Mishor Adumim can continue to enjoy cheap labour without benefits.
WAC-MAAN is petitioning today the Israeli Labour Court to issue an order against the dismissal of the head of the Workers’ Committee, against the unlawful hiring of strikebreakers, and against the use of threats and violence by the garage. We have also demanded from the police legal advisor that the police stop interfering with the freedom of the Zarfati Workers’ Committee to organize and protest.
For additional details, call Michal Schwartz: 050-4330067
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