Workers at the wholesale pharmaceutical company Floris have unionized within the Histadrut in an effort to protect their rights, improve their working conditions, and safeguard their job security. About 150 workers at Floris’ manufacturing plant in the Western Galilee will benefit from the union.
Founded in 1985 by Rafi and Yonatan Ben Shimon, Floris produces a variety of products in fields including nutritional supplements, skincare, and medical supplies and provides services to other pharmaceutical companies throughout the world. One and a half years ago, Floris was purchased for 75 million shekels ($20 million) by the Israeli pharmaceutical company CTS, which is controlled by the private investment fund Fortissimo.
In September, CTS workers formed a union within the Histadrut.
Over the weekend, the Histadrut reached out to Iftach Seri, chair of CTS and Floris, to inform him that the Histadrut was representing the factory workers. The Histadrut called on Seri to meet with the workers to start a negotiation process and start work on a collective agreement.
“Unionizing is a basic right of all workers,” Yoav Klein, chair of the Histadrut’s Karmiel branch, said. “I am hopeful that the factory management will respect the will of the workers and will start negotiations with the workers’ representatives and the Histadrut.
“The main trend that led us, the workers, to the current unionization is our will to act to protect our future and improve our working conditions and our wages,” the new union’s action committee said. “We hope that the management will respect our will and will sit down with the Histadrut and the workers for negotiations in order to solidify a collective agreement.”
Eliezer Belo, chair of the Histadrut’s food and pharmaceutical workers’ union, congratulated the Floris workers on joining the Histadrut. “I wish them success in the negotiations for a first collective agreement,” he said. “I am convinced that the process of unionizing will strengthen both the workers and the company.”
This article was translated from Hebrew by Leah Schwartz.
