Where was the Histadrut?

With regard to “Teva workers protest mass layoffs” (December 15), once again we see the only answer the Histadrut has for any problem: Call a strike after the event. As usual, this does nothing to solve the problem; in reality, it just makes things worse for the country.

Surely, with thousands of Histadrut members working within Teva, the labor federation should have been aware of what was going on years ago. If the news came as a surprise, there is something seriously wrong within the Histadrut that calls for a basic restructuring.

Teva is a public company, with company results published every year. Should these members of the Histadrut, who pay monthly membership fees, not expect the labor federation to protect their rights by checking in on what is going on and sounding a warning to members – and the government – when things look suspicious or shaky?

One suspects that the Histadrut was aware but was unwilling to undermine the cozy arrangements between its leadership and Teva’s management.

Unless the Histadrut changes its ways, there will only be more instances in which it shuts the stable door only after the horses have already bolted from companies with thousands of workers who thought that as members of the Histadrut, their interests were being protected. STANLEY CANNING Kfar Hamaccabi