With the future of their unpaid salaries and pension funds in doubt, hundreds of
Ma’ariv employees marched to Azrieli Mall on Thursday, where they demanded
answers from the newspaper’s parent company IDB Holding Corp.
Shouting
“Nochi [Dankner, IDB controlling shareholder], where’s the money,” the employees
announced that they will go on strike on Monday and there will be no paper on
Erev Yom Kippur. As the elevators were out of order, a number of employees
climbed 41 flights of stairs to the IDB offices, where a few entered the company
cafeteria and created a ruckus before leaving.
The employees also tried
to enter a Shufersal chain next to Azrieli Mall, but security guards barred
their entry.
Haggai Matar, head of the reporters committee organized by
Ma’ariv workers, said they still have not heard from management regarding how
much of their outstanding salaries or pension funds terminated employees will
receive, a fact that only causes greater concern.
Also Thursday, Ma’ariv
Holdings filed for a stay of proceedings at the Tel Aviv District Court,
reporting a debt of NIS 408 million – of which almost a quarter is owed to
employees.
The company filed the application immediately after informing
the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange of the completion of the sale of Ma’ariv, news
website NRG and associated publications to businessman Shlomo Ben-Tzvi for up to
NIS 74m.
“The newspaper has been an inalienable asset of the Israeli
media since before the state’s establishment. It was the country’s most widely
distributed newspaper, a status it maintained for decades,” the application
said.
It continued: “Very regretfully, as has been the case with other
media outlets in recent times, the newspaper’s situation has worsened. Now it is
helpless, and there is no way of continuing without a credit
arrangement.”
According to the application, Ma’ariv owes NIS
95.5m. to its more than 1,500 employees, including NIS 53.5m. for
severance pay and NIS 20.3m. for layoffs. It owes around NIS 54m. to the banks,
NIS 67.7m. to bondholders, NIS 34m.to suppliers and NIS 126m. to parent company
Discount Investment Corporation.
Ben-Tzvi, publisher of national -
religious newspaper Makor Rishon, declared his intention to keep
publishing Ma'ariv. He committed to employing around 300 of the publication’s
existing workforce, with the option of adding another 100 staff if needed. It is
still unclear if Ma'ariv will stay open or merge with Makor
Rishon.
Dankner was abroad during the Wednesday night board meeting at
which the sale was approved. He has reportedly committed to advising the IDB
board that it cover at least 69 percent of what is owed to Ma’ariv
staff.
Dankner acquired control of Ma’ariv early last year, promising to
turn the newspaper into a “Zionist and patriotic Israeli newspaper” that would
not serve any particular political or financial interests.”
“[It will be]
a newspaper committed to safeguarding democratic values, namely the rule of law
and freedom of expression; a newspaper that will place a special emphasis on
social sensitivities and on human interaction and the equality of all people; a
newspaper that is attentive to the feelings of the public and to progress in the
Galilee and the Negev and all the outlying areas,” he said at the time.