ISRAEL + LABOR = A SACRED BOND

* The Labor Zionist movement laid the foundation for the Jewish state and for a fair, just and democratic society
in that state.

* The AFL-CIO was one of the first non-Jewish organizations -- from 1917 onward -- to endorse the idea of a
Jewish homeland.

* The AFL-CIO was also the first non-Jewish group to give moral and financial support to unions and Jews
after Adolph Hitler came to power in Germany.

* David Ben-Gurion, the first General Secretary of the Histadrut Israel's General Federation of Labor -- was
the first Prime Minister of the State of Israel.

41 The Israeli labor federation laid the foundation for universal health care in the State of Israel.

* Histadrut defends and upholds the working conditions, wages and quality of life for Israelis of all backgrounds.

* Former UAW President Leonard Woodcock was among the strongest voices calling for freedom for Soviet Jews
during his travels to the Soviet Union.

Na'amat, Israel's National Association of Working and Volunteering Women, has been at the forefront in
the struggle for equality for Israeli women for more than 40 years.

* American labor unions have been among the leading purchasers of State of Israel Bonds, showing solidarity
with their working brothers and sisters there as well as a consistent view that the State of Israel is a sound
business investment for their members.

Halacha, Jewish law, holds sacred the right of workers to organize unions, to engage in collective
bargaining and to strike. Halacha also prohibits strikebreaking, particularly by those who
are replacing workers who are on strike. The Metropolitan Detroit Jewish Community Council
has gone on record against using replacement workers during legitimate labor disputes.

Since July 13, 1995, some 2,000 workers -- including scores of Jews -- have been engaged in a bitter
struggle with Detroit Newspapers, the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press and their owners, Gannett Co.
and Knight-Ridder Inc., who chose to hire replacement workers rather than engage in good-faith
collective bargaining to conclude the strike. The National Labor Relations Board has charged
the companies with unfair labor practices that caused the strike. More recently, the NLRB
has charged the companies with further violations for refusing to recall more than a fraction
of strikers after the unions offered unconditionally to return to work. That refusal turned
the strike into a lockout.

During Sunday's Walk for Israel, locked-out Jewish newspaper workers, union brethren and
supporters will march in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Israeli labor movement. For
us, it will be a day to celebrate the rich and necessary link between labor and the existence and
continuation of the Jewish state -- and to recognize the essential role of organized labor in
upholding the rights and values of working men and women in this country.

Through fair and foul weather, the American labor movement has been among the staunchest
allies of the state and people of Israel. It is now the time for Jews of America to stand up for the
American worker. As Hillel said: "If I am not for myself, who will be? If I am only for myself,
what am I? If not now, when?"

We must continue to protect our children,grandchildren,
and future generations, just as our parents, grandparents,
and forefathers protected us.

The Jewish Labor Committee, The Locked-Out Jewish
Newspaper Workers, Their Families and Their Supporters

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For more information, please contact Marilyn Witt or Gary Graff at the Lockout Headquarters of
the Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions, 313-877-9016

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