Pri HaGalil factory workers are expected to be back on the job today, as ordered by the Nazareth Regional Labor Court. The facility in Hazor Haglilit, Israel, which produces frozen and canned food products, employs 220 people.
The plant shut down on January 2 after management complained that it had not received financial grants due from the Economy Ministry, and thus it could not afford to purchase new licenses to remain in business. Disgruntled employees barricaded themselves outside the factory’s locked gates on Sunday, demanding its reopening.
Avi Nissankorn, chairman of the Histadrut labor union, filed a petition asking the court to reopen the plant. It claimed that workers were being used “as hostages and leverage to apply pressure in negotiations” over funding promised by the government. Judge Myron Schwartz evidently agreed, as a reopening was ordered.
Pri HaGalil factory owner Oshik Efraim, who was not present during the court session, reportedly told Moshe Gafni, chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee, that processing lines would resume operation on January 6, as progress has been made in negotiations with government officials.
With production capacity of over 70,000 tons of vegetables and fruits per year, Pri HaGalil is the largest vegetable processing operation in Israel. Its frozen product line ranges from green and yellow beans to garden peas, baby carrots, mini corn cobs and okra. Distribution is in 400- and 800-gram retail bags as well as in larger-size institutional bulk packs.
Founded on 1951 in Upper Galilee, Pri HaGalil sources raw material from a network of approximately 80 growers throughout Israel – stretching from the Arava down south to Etzba HaGalil up north.
The company also produces canned tuna made of fish imported in frozen form from suppliers around the world. The kosher factory is under the supervision of the Badatz Ultra-Hassidic Group.
