(Tribune News Agency) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. will postpone laying off 140 of the 340 employees at its tablets factory in Jerusalem that it planned to lay off in 2018. These layoffs will be postponed until 2019, when all remaining workers at the plant will be laid off. The strike in the tablets factory will be halted as a result. 200 workers will still be laid off in 2018.
This announcement follows Teva's announcement last month that it plans to lay off 1,700 workers in Israel. Teva has 14,000 workers worldwide. The company did not respond to pressure from Histadrut - the general federation of labor in Israel,  the workers' committees at its factories, political elements, strikes that included burning tires and blocking roads and personal demonstration in front of the homes of Teva directors.
The company, headed by Danish CEO Kare Schultz, for whom the layoffs are one of his first measures as chief executive, is now making its first gesture, albeit a small one, to the workers and the Histadrut.
The company said on Sunday, "Teva is conducting an intense process of consultation with the unions and is close to reaching agreements regarding the number of employees to depart the Jerusalem site in the first quarter of 2018, as well as regarding the process of closing the Jerusalem site at the end of 2019, as was communicated. We welcome the return to work tomorrow of all of Teva's tablet plant's employees in Jerusalem. Teva is committed to a fair process and to providing assistance in training and search for employment opportunities to employees whose position has become redundant.
"Reports that Teva would not lay off any workers until the end of 2019 are incorrect… Thanks to great efforts and consideration for the workers, we have managed to find jobs for more workers, so the first round of layoffs will be slightly smaller, by one third.
(c)2017 the Globes (Tel Aviv, Israel). Distributed by Tribune News Service.