Last week, the Chairman of the Histadrut in the Northern Valley region, Leon Peretz, addressed the management of Tower Semiconductor following the announcement of the company’s acquisition by Intel. He demanded that management open negotiations to regulate the rights of Tower employees in the sale.
“The Histadrut and the action committee demand that the company’s management discuss with them the implications that the sale of the company will have on the workers,” Peretz wrote to the Vice President of Human Resources at Tower Semiconductor, Dalit Dahan. “We need to sit down and hammer these issues out, specifically with regards to bonuses to workers as is customary with other factories.”
Peretz warned the company not to intervene during the workers’ organizing process in any way, and not to take any actions in order to prevent the workers from organizing.
“I call on all employees who have yet to join the Histadrut to come and take advantage of the momentum so that we can ensure they receive their proper compensation,” Peretz wrote. "Workers are not merchandise to be traded, and they too deserve to enjoy the fruits of their labor.”
Last week, Intel announced that it would acquire the Israeli company for $5.4 billion. Tower is traded on the Nasdaq in the United States and on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Tower microchips are found in electronics, vehicles, and industrial equipment all over the world.
The company began its journey in the 1990s with a chip factory in Migdal HaEmek, and stood on the verge of bankruptcy twice, from which it survived thanks to new investments. Today, the company operates in Israel, California, Texas, and Japan, thanks to acquisitions and collaboration deals. The company employs about 6,000 workers in its factories in Migdal HaEmek.
Tower workers began the unionization process with the Histadrut in June 2021. That same month, the Nazareth Regional Labor Court issued temporary injunctions against the company’s management, ordering them not to interfere with the workers’ unionizing processes.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Jonathan Epstein.
