A letter announcing the end of a labor dispute at the Negev-based Bromine Compounds company was forged, at the instigation of the company itself, Histadrut labor federation officials told police on Tuesday.

Bromine Compounds is a subsidiary of Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL), which belongs to the billionaire Ofer family.

A few weeks ago 83 of the company's contracted workers demanded they be recognized as company workers. They subsequently organized a union with the help of the Histadrut's Negev district officials.

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Despite this, the company's management received a letter last week announcing an end to the labor dispute, purportedly signed by three members of the committee.

This led the Histadrut to file a complaint with the police in which they stated they had no knowledge of this letter, and that it was forged. The Histadrut officials asserted that one of the union members had actually signed the letter on behalf of the other two, without their consent. In the complaint, the Histadrut suggests the letter was in fact written at the instigation of the company itself.

In response, the company's management said: "There is no foundation to the claims against Bromine Compounds' management. The company worked, works and will continue to work in accordance with the accepted principles of the law."