Trade Union Friends of Israel:
Histadrut

On May 15, 2007, elections for the Histadrut and Na’amat (the biggest women organization in Israel) were taken place. These elections are held every five years and are conducted according to all the rules of democracy.

The Incumbent Chairman, Mr. Ofer Eini, was re-elected by a large majority of 92.5% of the voters. 7.4% of the voters voted for Mr. Leon Beblulu, who headed a list representing the Likud.

Ms. Talia Livni was also re-elected as Na’amat Chairperson.

Continue reading "The Final Results of the Histadrut Elections " »

The New Histadrut is the largest workers’ organisation in the State of Israel. We lead the fight for the rights of workers, the improvement of terms and conditions as well as securing job security, these are our main priorities. Hundreds of thousands of union members’ are organised in the New Histadrut, regardless of religion, race or gender from all sectors of the Israeli economy. These unions are united under the one roof – the New Histadrut.

Over the years the Histadrut developed and progressed to meet the needs and conditions of its members. Today the New Histadrut plays an important role in the lives of every working person and accompanies them throughout their life; from infancy until elderly, in youth and adolescence, as workers, as consumers. The Histadrut is concerned for the welfare and rights of the citizens and provides them with a rich mix of activities in all aspects of life.

Continue reading "A message from Ofer Eini-Chairman of the Histadrut " »

The New Histadrut is the largest workers’ organisation in the State of Israel. Leading the fight for worker’s rights and job security. The Histadrut unites hundreds of thousands of union members in one organisation, regardless of religion, race or gender. Today the Histadrut plays an important role in the lives of every working person in Israel and accompanies them throughout their life.

Ofer Eini succeeded Amir Peretz as Chairman of the Histadrut in January 2006. This was the beginning of an eventful period which has seen the organisation’s role strengthened, bringing many benefits to the working people of Israel.

Continue reading "The Work of the Histadrut" »

Histadrut International Department

After the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, there was an increasing political recognition by both Palestinians and Israelis of the need for two states of two peoples who live side by side. Over time, there were negotiations yielding political and economic agreements and extending dialogue between the Israeli and the Palestinian governments as well as between the NGOs, including Israel’s General Federation of Labor, Histadrut, and the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions.

Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, the Histadrut`s policy has been to cooperate with the Arab trade unions in general, and the Palestinian trade unions in particular, and we have taken concrete steps to implement this policy.

On March 5, 1995, exactly eleven years ago, the Histadrut signed a framework Agreement for Cooperation with PGFTU, under which Israeli Occupational Services Office transfers directly to the PGFTU 50 % of the official organizational dues of Palestinian workers’ working in Israel. The other 50% of these dues are transferred to the Histadrut. An additional legal agreement was signed on February 20, 1997, provided for Histadrut attorneys to protect the rights of Palestinians work working legally in Israel. Hundred of thousands of Israeli Shekels were transferred to the PGFTU, and hundreds of Palestinian workers attained legal counseling free of charge against Israeli employers who violated their rights.

In October 2000, after the failure of negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the outbreak of the Second Palestinian Intifada (the Al Aqsa Intifada) caused the death and injury of thousands of people on both sides. To our great sorrow, as a result of the violence perpetrated upon Israeli’s by Palestinian terrorist organizations, relations between the Histadrut and the PGFTU ceased, and at Histadrut stopped remitting dues and providing legal services. Nevertheless, throughout the entire period of the Intifada, we continued to have telephone dialogue with PGFTU General Secretary Shaher Sa`ed, and the Histadrut continued to help legal Palestinian workers attain entry permits, subject to restrictions imposed by the security forces.

The acceptance of the "Roadmap" by the Israeli and the Palestinian governments in 2003, the election of Abu Mazen as the successor Chairman of the Palestinian Authority after the death of Arafat in 2004, and the implementation of the "Disengagement Plan" from Gaza Strip and five settlements in West Bank in 2005, raised a ray of hope for change in the Middle East and for the achievement of co-existence between the two peoples, living side-by-side in stability, security and peace.

The Palestinian elections, which were held on January 25, 2006, resulted in new situation: Hamas, which has been declared to be a terrorist organization by most of the international community, has a major role in a Palestinian administration that seeks to enjoy international legitimacy.

If Hamas abandons its extreme ideology, if it accepts the demands of Israel and the international community to recognize the right of Israel to exist; annuls the Hamas Covenant calling for the destruction of Israel; dismantles of all terrorist organizations; and accepts all signed agreements between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government, we can return to the negotiating table.

If these conditions are not fulfilled, the State of Israel will be forced to break off any relations with the elected Palestinian Government.

Notwithstanding, it is very important to make a clear distinction between the Palestinian Government and the Palestinian NGOs, which act independently, do not receive financial support from the Palestinian Authority, and, in contrast to Hamas, respect agreements signed with Israeli organizations promoting bilateral relations.

Furthermore, Israel must not ignore the needs of the Palestinian population. Increasing pressure on this population will not increase the pressure on Hamas, but rather on Israel. The international community will have greater moral force dealing with the Palestinian Authority if it acts in a humanitarian manner towards its citizens.

The Histadrut makes a clear distinction between the Palestinian government and the trade unions which are affiliated to PGFTU, headed by General Secretary Shaher Sae`d, which recognize the basic right of Israel to exist, promote co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians, oppose terror and seek cooperation with Histadrut.

The Histadrut strives to cooperate with the PGFTU, any other Palestinian NGOs that promote the peace process in our region and trade unions throughout the world in order to protect workers and pensioners and protect their rights in our region (for further information in this domain, please view the Histadrut Resolution regarding Peace and Security, which is attached to this folder).

Furthermore, we believe that there is an international responsibility to promote and strengthen the relationship between the Israeli and Palestinian trade unions, in order to promote the peace process, and also to enable the Palestinian trade unions to be a sane alternative and an appropriate answer to the Palestinian workers` needs and problems.

By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz

The Histadrut and Clalit Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) yesterday signed an agreement enforcing the rights of thousands of cleaning workers in the HMO's hospitals and branches.

This is the first time that a large employer has taken responsibility for the working conditions of laborers contracted from employment companies, who it does not employ directly. It is also the first time that the Histadrut has undertaken enforcing the rights of these workers, although they are not organized.

Clalit HMO employs 33,000 tenured workers and some 5,000 contracted workers.

"All employers should follow Clalit's lead," said Hezi Kalo, Clalit's deputy director of human resources, who signed the agreement with Histadrut chair Ofer Eini. "Contracted workers are part of our family and our responsibility, as the largest employer," Kalo said.

For more on this story click here

Amir Peretz MK, leader of the Histadrut- Israel’s equivalent of the TUC, has won an historic victory over veteran party leader Shimon Peres to become leader of the Israeli Labor Party. Peretz’s narrow victory was achieved with 42.35 percent of the votes, while Peres was backed by 39.96 percent of voters. In third place was Benjamin Ben Eliezer, with 16.82 percent of the vote.

Although largely unknown on the international stage, at 54 years old Peretz has been a leading figure in Israeli politics for many years. In 1988 he was elected to the Knesset as a Labor member but he split from the party in 1999 to form the Am Echad “One Nation” party, which won two seats that year. Mr Peretz negotiated the merging of the two parties in 2004. He has visited the UK on several occasions and spoke at the TUC Congress and on the TUFI fringe in 2004.

Continue reading "TUFI Special Update: Trade Union Leader Amir Peretz wins Israeli Labor Leadership Race" »

By Yair Ettinger, Mazal Mualem and Daniel Ben-Simon, Haaretz

In an unexpected result and a blow to the Labor old guard, Histadrut labor federation Chairman Amir Peretz was Thursday morning named the new chairman of the Labor Party, defeating the incumbent and favorite, Vice Premier Shimon Peres.

The new Labor chief quickly reiterated his intention of pulling the party out of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government, propelling the country into political disarray and advancing the likelihood of early general elections.

Click here for the Haaretz article, or here for a BBC article. TUFI will shortly giving posting its own briefing on this historic news.

The Histadrut- the General Federation of Labour in Israel, was founded in Haifa in December 1920. It initially numbered 4,000 members, growing to 25,000 in 1927. At its creation it had several goals; firstly to represent Jewish workers in search of improved wages and conditions, and secondly to help provide jobs. The latter was achieved through the creation of the Hevrat Ovdim (The Society of Workers), the economic branch of the Histadrut which would come to play a major role in the economy, employing 280,000 people by 1989 and provided key building blocks for the creation of the Israeli state. It created Bank HaPoalim, Solel Boneh, Tnuva, and perhaps most importantly founded the Kupat Holim (General Sick Fund) which at its peak was responsible for the health care of 80% of Israeli citizens.

Continue reading "A Brief History of the Histadrut" »

By Jerry Goodman, Ameinu

Primaries for the Israel Labor Party leadership, originally due to be held on June 28th, have been rescheduled for November 8th.

The primaries will decide who will lead Labor into Israel’s next national elections scheduled for November ‘06 (with conventional wisdom suggesting early national elections, probably in the Spring). The primaries had been postponed at the last minute following objections to the new membership lists that resulted from the registration drive of the preceding months. There was an attempt to avoid holding primaries altogether – largely out of concern of others at the consistently strong showing and momentum behind MK Amir Peretz, head of the Histadrut, Israel’s labor federation.

For more on this story click here

Below is an interview Amir Peretz MK, Chairman of the Histadrut, Labor Member of the Knesset and candidate for head of the Israel Labour Party conducted by LabourStart in June 2005.

Continue reading "Interview with Amir Peretz MK" »