After two and half months of striking at the Salit Quarry, we are approaching a critical juncture. On Monday August 29th the Jerusalem District Court held a session to discuss a request from Salit Quarry to appoint a lawyer as a Trustee for the Quarry in order to protect it from the banks and other creditors whose bills have not been paid.
Justice David Minz agreed to a new arrangement by which the company will be directed from now on by the Trustee, while the work on the ground will be done by a new company called Y.D. Barazani (a Jerusalem based road contractor). Barazani will buy the tractors, trucks and machines from Salit, paying it a monthly rent for the right to extract stone in the quarry.
According to this arrangement, the workers will continue to be employed by the Salit Quarry under the Trustee, while in practice the Barazani Company will be responsible for the actual work on the ground. Barazani will cover Salit's debts, while the Trustee will make sure that no money is paid outside the line of legal creditors.
This arrangement places all the creditors – including the banks, fuel companies, and other suppliers – in a situation of complete dependence on the successful reactivation of the quarry.
The arrangement puts the workers and the Union in a powerful position, since without our consent nothing can move. Our strike is still valid legally, and we insist that without an agreement with the workers and their representative union nothing will move in the quarry.
We are entering this important new stage of the strike with full support from the great majority of the workforce, who have stopped all activity in the quarry for 2.5 months. The workers are united with WAC-Maan more than ever.
The fact that we were able yesterday, August 29, 2011, to distribute money to the strikers was also important. The contributions were received from various unions throughout the world (FNV - the Netherlands, CUPE – Canada, and others), as well as from many individuals. The amount distributed was 30,000 NIS (about $9000). This was our second disbursement from the strike fund. Altogether WAC-Maan has raised and distributed $19,000 in this continuing campaign.
Please take a moment to visit the WAC-Maan website and contribute to the strike fund:
http://ipaper.co.il/workers/.
