Weizmann`s violence against workers on "Haaretz"

Living science
Ruti Sinai, Ha'aretz, 17\11\08
(translated from Hebrew by Haran ‎Sened)

An audience of scientists and donors, from Israel and abroad, gathered yesterday at the Weizmann Institute at Rehovot to celebrate the granting of an honorary degree to Prof. David Hartman.

The peace was disturbed by five workers of the Institute's science park, who asked to display signs and deliver letters concerning the Institute's refusal to allow them to found a workers' union. The security personnel responded by charging at the workers, dropping them to the floor and beating them. One of the demonstrators was sent to an hospital, where he discovered that his leg was broken.

According to Nadav Aharoni, who works at the science park for the last four years, about 35 people, more than half of the workers, have organized themselves as part of the workers' organization "Koah Laovdim" (Power for the Workers). Some of the workers' demands have been accepted, but the Institute's administration refuses to negotiate a collective agreement, and for the last several weeks the park is out of work while the workers stay at home. "Too bad the the Weizmann Institute does not understand that scientific advancement and moral values go together", says Aharoni.

"There is no intention to exploit the workers. The salary and working conditions are more than fair", says the Institute's Vice President, Prof. Israel Bar-Yosef. "I would really like to end this episode. We try to handle it as a father handles his sons. But I will not allow a small organization with a political agenda and a handful of angry workers to dictate the workers' mode of employment".