Trade Union Friends of Israel has been established to strengthen the links between the Histadrut (the Israeli TUC), the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) and the British Trade Union Movement.

TUFI aims:

• to promote efforts towards finding a just and lasting peace settlement for both Israelis and Palestinians.
• to initiate dialogue by taking British delegations to meet with both Israeli and Palestinian trade unionists.
• to build support for the Peace Process in the UK by providing meetings and briefings for British Trade Unionists.

The RMT transport union voted at its 2008 Annual General Meeting on 24 June to effectively overturn its existing boycott policy against Israel. The motion also called for a democratic two state settlement for Israelis and Palestinians and criticised Hamas.

The motion was overwhelmingly passed with more than forty of the sixty or so conference delegates voting for the motion.

Following a visit to to Israel and the Palestinian Authority in December 2007 with the Trade Union Friends of Israel Delegation to the region, the BFAWU (Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union) invited to speak at their Annual Conference in Bridlington, Hertzel Yaka, Chairman of the Food and Pharmaceutical Union of the Histadrut (Israeli TUC) and Ibrahim Thweib, General Secretary of the Food Workers Section of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions.

Both delegates addressed the Conference and received a standing ovation. Both gave an overview of their own unions work and both stressed their wish for peace and quiet in the region, brotherhood and understanding, dialogue and activism amongst the unions in the region.

Continue reading "Bakers' Union host Israeli and Palestinian Counterparts" »

Israeli Industrial News: Nationwide strike threatened if new taxes not repealed
The Histadrut (Israeli TUC) has threatened to call a nationwide government strike at the end of June if a new workers' fund tax is not repealed. The threat was made in response to a new tax plan reveled by Israel’s Finance Minister, Roni Bar-On, which includes a drop in taxes for both companies and individuals to be paid for by the cancellation of tax exemptions on payments to some government employees’ pension funds.

The chairman of the Histadrut, Ofer Eini, said “there should be no connection between tax and reforms; the employees have an agreement with their employers, and the government has no business mixing in... the funds do not affect the top earning classes, but only normal working people - I'm waiting for Bar-On to say he made a mistake”

Continue reading "TUFI Monthly Update " »

Israeli Industrial News: New public sector agreement signed
A major new public sector wage agreement was signed on 17 April by Eli Cohen, the Israeli Director of Wages, and Ofer Eini, the chairman of the Histadrut (Israeli TUC). Nearly a million public sector employees will receive a 5% pay raise spread over three years and pensions will now be linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As part of the deal, the Histadrut (Israeli TUC) has also promised to maintain industrial quiet until the end of 2009.

Continue reading "Monthly Update: April 2008" »

A number of trade unions in the UK issued resolutions in 2007 that either directly or indirectly called for divestment from and boycotts of Israel. This year, several unions have preliminary boycott motions on the agenda for their 2008 conferences.

We believe that it is right for unions around the world to be discussing the plight of the Palestinians and seeking ways to provide assistance to them. We do not want to suppress trade union debate on the actions of the Israeli government nor undermine support for the Palestinian people. But we believe that support for Palestinians should not be counterproductive to the situation on the ground and the ongoing peace process. Rather than divestment from Israel, we believe that investment of time, energy and material aid in the peace process is the way to meaningful progress towards achieving a lasting settlement.

Calling for boycotts of Israel is not the right approach for trade unions for a number of important reasons:

Continue reading "Trade union boycott motions against Israel: weakening the prospects of peace" »

Israeli Industrial News: Histadrut, Coffee Bean strike breakthrough labour deal

A very sophisticated and thriving cafe culture has been developing in Israel, but workers' rights in the restaurant sector have been largely unprotected. That is about to change.

The Histadrut Labour Federation and the Coffee Bean chain of coffee shops on Tuesday (11 March) signed a collective labour agreement, the first of its kind between the union and a restaurant. It ends a long work dispute between employees in Coffee Bean's 14 establishments and management.

Continue reading "Monthly Update: March 2008 " »

For more than two years, Israelis living in Sderot and other towns near Gaza have been the target of choice for Hamas terrorists. Launching its arsenal of Qassam rockets from residential neighborhoods and even schoolyards, they have as much as dared Israel to fight back. Now it has.

Predictably, much of the world is expressing its dismay — and those of us who call ourselves progressives are fuming that much of it is coming from our counterparts on the left overseas. However, it’s not enough for us to be indignant. Absent the involvement of the American labor movement, any effort to build worldwide support on the left for the Jewish state will be extraordinary difficult.

Continue reading "American Labour Can Help Right Anti-Israel Left " »

Thanks for your patience -- the new TUFI website will go live later today, 26 March 2008.