Israel Chemicals Ltd. has demanded that workers end their strike or it may be forced to expand layoffs. ICL said the strike could result in the loss of customers including key customers and this would necessitate more cutbacks.
The threats came in a letter to striking Dead Sea Works and Dead Sea Bromine Compounds workers from ICL Manager for Israeli Operations Avner Maimon and the Head of Human Resources at ICL Ehud Nitzan.
The warnings came as hundreds of Dead Sea Works workers demonstrated at the gates of the Sdom plant accusing management of hiring contract workers and using them to operate some of the facilities and thereby breaking the strike. The workers succeeded in breaking in to the grounds of the plant and demanded that contract workers leave the site. The union charged ICL management with acting brutally towards workers instead of ending the strike through negotiations.