The Origins of Israel, 1882–1948: A Documentary History

18. The Pechter Strike (1927)

119 18 The Pechter Strike (1927)    In 1927, the Palestine Electric Company began the construction of the Naharayim hydroelectric power plant at the intersection of the Yarmuk and Jordan rivers on the eastern bank of the Jordan. This was one of the largest civil projects in the history of the Yishuv, and it required extensive investment in infrastructure, including the construction of a special rail line and special train cars. The Pechter et Hoffman and Sons Company from Tel Aviv, an iron casting factory, built special train cars for the Naharayim project. Workers at the Pechter company went on strike, but they were pressured by the Yishuv’s political leadership to return to work. In this document, a small faction of the Zionist Labor movement calls for continuing the strike and for the leadership of the Labor movement to stand behind the workers and not to represent the interests of their employers. The document reflects the growing social upheaval in the Yishuv at that period and the escalating tensions between the Zionist movement’s commitment to social values and the interests of the workers, and its commitment to the overall strength and well-being of the Jewish community in Palestine, which was highly enhanced by grand projects such as the construction of the Naharayim power plant. ❖ Source: Lavon Institute Archive, 4/36/5. Translated by Marganit Weinberger-Rotman. Workers of the World Unite! The Ruling Parties Betray Pechter Strikers! Comrades! By order of Pinchas Rutenberg of London,1 the leaders of the ruling parties in the Histadrut2 have ordered the 130 Pechter workers to end their strike. The strike, which lasted four weeks, had been declared by the workers and garnered the support of the entire working public. A few days into the strike, it became apparent that Pechter is the abject lackey of the industrialists, entrusted by them to lead the battle against the Laborers’ Union, to deprive the workers of their class achievements. This explains his stubborn conduct in prosecuting this strike until the final capitulation of the protesters. The workers had only one course of action: to expand and intensify the confrontation using all the means at their disposal. Workers in other factories and the public in general hoped for a successful outcome of this strike, because they knew that it would affect their own interests. But Ahdut Ha-Avodah [United Labor] and Ha-Po‘el Ha-Tsa’ir ( the Young Worker),3 who expected the strike to be over within two or three days and who planned to use it as a beacon to light their way to victory in the elections, were stunned when they saw how extensive and harsh it was, and how far it exceeded the parameters that they had set for it. It was then that they determined to put an end to the strike, by hook or by crook. Thus, they limited the strikers to one demand: arbitration in the matter of the metalworkers’ salaries. The leaders agreed that all the other demands (raises, work in the chemistry department, seven working hours on Fridays, compensation for strike days, and sanitary conditions) would be consigned to later arbitration, but Pechter objected to this compromise, too. The general working public was deliberately prevented from aiding and supporting the strikers. Davar,4 instead of championing the strikers’ cause, looked for ways to supply the employers with excuses. No money was collected on behalf of the protesters, except in Haifa, and the workers were left to starve. Eventually, the leaders gave in and entrusted the decision to a man of good sense and integrity, Mr. Pinchas Rutenberg.5 Workers! A few days ago, without your consent, it was decided to put an end to the strike. Without consulting you, you were faced with a fait accompli. This treachery is only the last in a series of perfidious acts taken by the 120 :      Party of the Workers, resulting from a conciliatory policy of national compromise and “peace and quiet in industry,” which is done at the worker’s expense. Workers! You are facing a united front of Pechter-Rutenberg-Ben-Gurion. You must draw a lesson from this defeat and intensify your fight for your just demands, so that in the battles to come, you will prevail over your perfidious leaders and march to victory in your class warfare. Down with the parties of national compromise! Stop the betrayal of the...