Israel - Strikers attacked by thugs during a strike

On 9 January 2018 around 850 employees of Israeli telecommunications equipment provider ECI Telecom went on strike as part of their efforts to stop a plan announced in December 2017 to lay off 100 workers. Sixty-three employees had already received dismissal letters the day before. Clashes broke out between the picketers and the security staff hired by ECI Telecom near the company’s entrance. Security guards physically attacked strikers and sprayed them with tear gas. “ECI’s management has lost all touch with reality and with compassion for human dignity by hiring a thuggish security agency that will use any means to harm the workers,” said a spokesman for the General Confederation of Labour in Israel (Histadrut).