South goes on strike to protest layoffs
Local authorities begin one-day shutdown in Dimona and other cities in solidarity with workers facing mass layoffs.
Municipal services and schools for grades 7-12 will be closed in Dimona, while Arad and Yeruham will shut down city services but keep schools open. Israel Chemicals Ltd. have been on strike for more than 100 days, while the Dead Sea Works have been on strike for over three months.
Armond Lankari, chairman of the Dead Sea Works Committee, said at the Dimona demonstration that he renounced his role as chairman of Likud's branch in the city. "It's difficult for me to support a party that doesn't take care of the Negev," he said. "Mr. Prime Minister, you promised to become involved after the elections. Two months have passed and we have not seen you participate."
Speaking at the demonstration in Dimona, Zionist Union Chairman Isaac Herzog said that the entire Negev is mobilizing to demand a change of priorities. "Natural resources belong to us all, and we want to see thousands of workers return to Israel Chemicals," he said. "I know that many residents of the Negev and Dimona did not vote for me, but believe the way of Menachem Begin, who fought for everyone. We are here to demand true social justice and it begins in Dimona."
Roughly 70 per cent of ICL employees are residents of Be'er Sheba, and around 40 per cent of DSW workers are Dimona residents.
Figures from the Central Statistics Bureau show that area residents have good reason to be concerned about their livelihoods.
According to the statistics, in 2014 Israel saw a rise of about 0.5 per cent in the employment rate and a decrease of 0.3 per cent in the unemployment rate. During that same period, the employment rate in the south decreased by 0.6 per cent and unemployment remained the same.
The fate of one in every five households in Dimona is tightly linked to the ICL plants in the south. And with no end in sight to the strike at the ICL operations, and mass layoffs just around the corner at other plants, the 40,000 residents of the city clearly realize that barring any significant changes, they are heading for a very bleak future.
According to figures from the Manufacturers Association of Israel, which tracks only members of the association, over the last decade 25 factories of various, mainly in the textile industry, were shut down in southern Israel.
The dire situation has prompted Dimona Mayor Beni Bitton to declare the one-day shutdown of the city. The citywide protest will also include mass demonstration at the entrance to Dimona in solidarity with the workers whose jobs are under threat. Bitton has the support of all the political parties in the city council.
Avital Lahav and Ilana Curiel contributed to this report.
