Intel offers non-Jewish Saturday workforce in Israel plant row
Intel has offered to field an entirely non-Jewish Saturday workforce at its Jerusalem chip plant, after unruly demonstrations by ultra-Orthodox Jews there at the weekend. The protest by ultra-Orthodox Jews, enraged by the company running the plant on the Jewish sabbath, prompted Intel to surround the factory with barbed wire. …
So, we'll expect 'ultra-Religious' Christians to start attacking all manner of shops and businesses in the UK for opening on Sundays then shall we?
Thought not.
Nice one, guys.
Too bad Israel is such a good market. I'd be tempted to pull out.
Another example of extremists re-shaping civil society to better fit their own view of the world. What a pity Intel didn't just tough it out.
Isn't this discrimination? Isn't up to the individual whether they want to work on a holy day or not? Should Intel really let itself be bullied by religious zealots like this?
These break down in tears at the concept of a car park being open on a saturday. Should the police not work on a saturday? Maybe it doesn't matter because all the robbers take a break sunset on friday night. (thats when the sabbath starts for anyone who thought I was implying Islam.)
That's where I'd move the factory to. You get a better class of religious zealot on that side.
Religious nut cases enforcing their own beliefs on everybody else. I wouldn't have thought that the Jewish community, of all religious communities, would have resorted to violence outside the more traditional flashpoints ... but I guess I was wrong again.
This is a multi-cultural, multi-faith world ... about time some of the faiths started paying heed to the "treat thy neighbour..." and, "do unto others..." lines in their bibles.
Faced with this kind of mayhem, i wouldn't be surprised if Intel did up sticks and move .. would someone kindly point out to them that there is plenty of workforce in the UK that want jobs, please!
"So, we'll expect 'ultra-Religious' Christians to start attacking all manner of shops and businesses in the UK for opening on Sundays then shall we?
Thought not."
I'm still waiting to see Christians "ultra-religious" enough to get their arses out of bed on a Sunday morning to go to Church - most of them* seem to take "day of rest" VERY seriously indeed and stay in their pit til noon!!
*based on a representative sample of people in the office who call themselves Christian but don't actually go to Church on a Sunday because they're too busy sleeping off an excess of a few too many of the old "blood of Christ"...
chips made on Saturday be marked as "Not Kosher" ?
Lunatics who believe in imaginary friends bring massive fail again. Doesn't matter where it is, what they call the imaginary friends, it's still pretty weak sauce.
Unfortunate stuff.
Did you know that at New York's Mount Sinai hospital, the lifts are set to move constantly from floor to floor, opening the doors at each floor, so that orthodox Jews can work on a Saturday but not "operate machinery". Apparently getting into a lift is okay, but pressing a button would be unacceptable.
Wherever and whenever irrational beliefs are pandered to in this way, harm is done.
Reading comprehension fail. Go back to school.
@MAFOO has asked "Isn't this discrimination? Isn't up to the individual whether they want to work on a holy day or not? Should Intel really let itself be bullied by religious zealots like this?"
As someone who lives in Jerusalem, I saw what happened over the last weekend:
What Intel did was open one of its several factories in Israel, one that has been out of order in the last couple of years for financial reasons (mainly the new factory built in the southern region next to an existing one). Right before reopening the Har-Hotzvim fab Intel has announced that its religious employees (who had to work in other places during the last couple of years) are going to have to choose - work on Saturday or get downsized.
One of the most anti-religious MKs was interviewed on Friday, and she said that she wasn't supporting the acts of violence, but supporting the fight against a company that decided to enslave people 7 days a week (!!!) in the holy name of Capitalism.
Intel's fab isn't the first business in town to open on Saturday. It's just the first one to announce that people who want one rest-day per week are too spoiled to work...
“This is a multi-cultural, multi-faith world ... about time some of the faiths started paying heed to the "treat thy neighbour..." and, "do unto others..." lines in their bibles.”
Is that "before they do unto you" or "as you would have them do unto you"?
Well ... if Orthodox Jews are being difficult, I suppose it'll please the "progressives" in this country.
There's a simple logic here. "Diversity" is currently all the rage in "progressive" circles. But not all "diverse" groups are equal: some animals are more equal than others, as Orwell had it. Jews are certainly unfashionable. By contrast, some groups that *are* fashionable are very difficult ... which is kind of embarrassing for "diversity" and the multicultural ideology [ footnote 1].
What, in this crazy logic, could be better than an unfashionable group being difficult in its turn? That kind of justifies it all.
Personally, I don't care what people do abroad. When in Rome ....
The compromise solution sounds like a good one.
__________
*OTOH, that might actually be *why* some are fashionable -- but let's not go there.
You'll be thinking of the "Keep Sunday Special" campaign merchants then?
AFAIK they've been keeping their heads down since they lost the argument comprehensively when the Major government changed the law (proving that even the most complete pillocks in parliament get it right sometimes). It doesn't seem that long ago that they could be seen out picketing B&Q et. al. on a Sunday. Some people'll do anything to avoid going to church.
The odd thing here was that you got equal numbers of union activists along, making this the only time the Reds and the peddlars of opiate to the masses have stood shoulder-to-shoulder on an issue AFAIK.
What on earth would the world come to if the market god didn't enjoy our absolute faith and respect to the point where all other values have to give way before it ? Horror of horrors, people would be able to spend the occasional day chilling out with family or friends and honoring what they really care about, rather than buying and selling 7 days a week in slavery to Mammon, who is clearly the god of the modern age. How disgustingly unprofitable ! Imagine how much this takes away from shareholder profits !
In practice you can't close a modern chip factory down completely one day a week and you do need emergency services and a few shops open, so some compromises are needed. But it's still not a bad idea if people can chill out together on a day and respect in community what they really care about (e.g. through Church, Synagogue, Mosque or Secular Hall) on the day most people don't have to work. In different places with different traditions this will be Friday, Saturday or Sunday respectively, depending upon what most people there want.
Look, two thirds of the country are Jewish. Yes.
However, is it against the countries law to work on the religious sabath? No. At least, not to my current knowledge.
So what the heck are a bunch of religious nutcases (who don't seem to represent the wise, patient and thoughtful Jewish people that I know) doing trying to wreck havoc on a company that isn't breaking the law? Also, getting violent against press reporters (as reported in the article) and causing so much fear that razor wire (or barbed wire or whatever) has to be deployed?
The Jewisih community itself should be taking these othodox people one side for a quiet chat; it isn't doing their reputation much good.
Where does my comprehension fail in this, exactly?
If people are going to criticise someone else's posts, it might be useful if they could point out specifically what they think is wrong with them.
I think it's you who have had the "reading comprehension fail" because it seems to me that Michelle Knight is suggesting that Intel leave Israel and set up in the UK instead.
Can you please elaborate as to what is wrong with this post?
I get the feeling you may also be suffering from "Reading comprehension fail" yourself!
"Religious nut cases enforcing their own beliefs on everybody else. I wouldn't have thought that the Jewish community, of all religious communities, would have resorted to violence outside the more traditional flashpoints ... but I guess I was wrong again."
You are talking about Israel, a country who solve things the violent way. Why are you surprise?
Agreed. I have a few friends that I almost never see because they have to work weekend. It would be nice if people would stop chaseing the almighty profit.
I am still convinced that we have problems with drink, drugs and mental healt in the UK because people live far apart, work long hours and work weekends. I think other EU countrys don't because they don't have the pressure to cram in so much to such a short time (the one weekend day a month where you get to see people and it is your turn not to drive home, or whatever)
It's not like the protesters will be creating a picket line on Saturday's to stop people getting to work.
@AC & dogged - pointing out errors is one thing, pointing out things that aren't actually wrong, then insulting the poster.....
You're quite stupid aren't you?
I sympathise, but I don't think it is profit really; more like people who aren't religious and can't get to the shops outside the 9 to 5, wanting to be able to do things.
My own thinking (which is usually flawed!) says that the same population, buying the same supplies and services, over fewer days, will actually increase profit as there are lower running costs ... but that is just my over simple arithmetic.
I remember spending a few months in the 90's, working in one of the more religious areas of The Netherlands ... on Sunday the place was a ghost town and my entertainment/food/shopping options were severely restricted to the overpriced hotel food and the TV in the bar. Good job I claimed it on expenses ... *cough*
Lucky they built the factory in God botherer central.
So they have one lot that don't want to work saturdays, another lot that take fridays off and some more that don't do sundays. all they have to do is persuade some 7day adventists (and/or Boomtown Rats fans) to move there and they can have a multi-faith, multi-cultural work force evenly spread over the week.
All people of different races, colours and creeds working together in harmony - the very image of the Holy Land.
I was just reading an article somewhere the other day that a group of orthodox Jewish religious leaders were saying that even the Shabbat Elevators were unacceptable (the article didn't state why exactly). That seems like it would leave the stairs as the only alternative... which sounds like more work to me?
I recall the article also implying that many Jewish persons, privately, didn't give a flying f*ck what a bunch of old clergy had to say on the matter.
I'm surprised the Intel staff didn't just say, "That's okay - we'll fire everyone who normally works during the week, and we'll extend the contracts of the Saturday-only staff so they work full-time."
Problem solved.
...if the [alleged] vengeful jealous god[s] that fundamentalist believers choose to believe in actually exist[s], he/she/it/they will take decisive action if feeling that worship on the Their Day just isn't sufficient.
OTOH, perhaps what fundamentalist believers are most concerned about is that if people clearly do Forbidden Things and the sky *doesn't* fall, more people might start to wonder what else the god[s] don't actually give a toss about, or whether they actually exist.
Still, in this case, there seems a simple and eminently fair solution.
Have a basic basic wage for people who want regular/popular days off, and then pay extremely generous overtime for people who choose to work unpopular days, not least to compensate them for all the Mighty Wrath they're risking.
"Wanted: Factory workers. No jews." And that's a good thing?
Posting anonymously. Some idiot will no doubt mis-read this.
Considering it was the Israel crew that saved Intels ass a few year back during the Pentium 4 netburst overheat cant scale past 4 ghz debacle several years ago by extending the excellent at the time, Pentium M design. The whole Core line came out of Israel and politics aside these people are some of the most educated hard working people in the world. Intel can get cocky with its employees right now because the economy sucks and AMD has become so completely inept that Intel likely won't need innovation at all costs perhaps ever again (sigh I hope Hector overpay 4ATI Ruiz goes to jail over this galleon insider trading crap, lol shortselling AMD is usually lucrative)
a similar thing were happening in Iran. Denunciations would shower from the US and Europe.
Maybe Intel should 'up sticks' and move to Palestinian-controlled territory. Israelis could easily commute if they wanted to.
Religion has been the major cause of wars over millenia. Of course it is the fundamentalists doing. They are dangerous people.
RE: but supporting the fight against a company that decided to enslave people 7 days a week (!!!) in the holy name of Capitalism
That's baloney, intel runs 4 shifts in their fabs in order to keep them open 7 days a week. Each shift works a 12 hour day, 3 days one week, 4 days the next. So the claim that people are forced to work 7 days a week is bull.
The majority of comments here seem to be railing gainst the Nasty Religious Types, who are obviously saying no-one should be allowed to work on a Saturday, right? After all, they're Nasty Religious Types, and thus irrational by definition...
Except, according to yairmohr, the only poster so far who actually *lives there* (or at least the only one who seems to have mentioned the fact, sorry to any non-stated Jerusalem-ers), Intel actually said "you MUST work on Saturdays or lose your jobs".
Now, if the protest was against the plant being open on a Saturday at all, then I agree with the majority here, shame on the ultra-Orthodox for trying to force the thou-shalt-not-work-on-Saturdays rule on the workforce as a whole.
However, if the protest was against the threat of downsizing, then that in my opinion shifts the black hat well and truly onto IBM's head, and I'll re-phrase the above; shame on Intel for trying to force the Thou-SHALLT-work-on-saturdays rule on the populace workforce as a whole.
But either way - surely "only non-Jews may work on a Saturday" is not the way out of this problem, as it requires the hiring of a whole bunch of people *on religious grounds* ("Wanted: Saturdy workers. Jews, orthodox or otherwise, need not apply")
Surely "no-one will be forced to work on a Saturday if it's against their religion" ought to be an amicable sollution?
>Religion has been the major cause of wars over millenia.<
Heh, here's one, Apple are overpriced toys, Windows are spyware magnets, Linux is for beardy geeks with no life...
And go.
(point - we all suffer from the delusion that our beliefs are correct and anyone who doesn't agree must, in some way, be wrong, evil, misguided - whatever. The only reason we don't picket shops on a Sunday is because in the west we've been seduced by the dark side, have become soft and compliant and have little to no actual religious belief, we might spout the words, follow the rote, but any true belief is overshadowed by 'I'm a celebrity X factor'.
When you learn the Vatican loans money to known arms dealers you have to figure something's wrong, somewhere).
Hello again. Everyone who wanted proof for my claims - you'll get it during Friday, as right now I'm downloading today's and yesterday's Newscasts to extract the reports about this matter and upload them to my youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/MusicHunter85) in a few hours.
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