Dear Sirs,
After meeting my comrades from the port of Liverpool, I was disgusted to hear what is happening to my fellow stevedores in Liverpool - the sacking of 500 of them by the Port Authority, Mersey Docks & Harbour Company, after 30-40 years service for not crossing a picket line. I am pleased to hear of the great support in Liverpool and the rest of the UK, but what is more pleasing is the solidarity from other dock workers of the world i.e. America, Canada, Australia, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and Italy.
Can I say that we in the port of Ashdod are not prepared to stand by and watch our 500 fellow trade unionists and their families be treated in the way that they have been treated for the last fifteen weeks. We are also very aware that strike breakers are being used to load and discharge ships at the port of Liverpool namely, Zim Liverpool, Castor, City of Salerno, Zim Lisbon
We are therefore going to take some form of action in support of our comrades in Liverpool in order to help to bring about the reinstatement of all 500 sacked dockworkers and we will be urging fellow trade unionists in Israel to help also. We were very pleased to learn from our fellow port workers in Haifa that they feel the same way and that the harbour pilots of both ports, Haifa and Ashdod (all members of the Israeli sea officers' union) decided to take an active part in the matter.
Not wishing to cause any delays to any ship or shipping company we do hope that the problem in Liverpool will very soon come to an end with our comrades back in their jobs. Hopefully we believe that in the near future an honest negotiation between the right parties will bring a settlement agreeable to all.
with all respect,
Mati Ayache, Ashdod Dockers' Union Representative.
