Israeli workers strike nationwide to protest Teva layoffs
JERUSALEM — Israel’s national trade union on Sunday held a half-day nationwide strike to protest generic drugmaker Teva’s decision to lay off a quarter of its workforce, snarling traffic and shuttering key services across the country.
The work stoppage crippled the country’s main international airport and seaports, closed banks and government offices and forced hospitals to scale back services to reduced-staff weekend levels.
Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the world’s largest generic drugmaker, announced last Thursday that it was cutting 14,000 jobs worldwide. The cuts are expected to include about 1,700 jobs in Israel, roughly one-quarter of its local workforce. The company is considered a national treasure and is one of the largest private-sector employers.
In Jerusalem, Teva workers staged demonstrations outside a company plant, at the entrance to the city and outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office as he was convening his Cabinet for its weekly meeting. The workers blocked traffic, beat drums and chanted slogans against the coming layoffs. “Closing Teva is an attack against the state of Israel,” read one poster.