PGFTU Website
The Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions sponsored a series of events to celebrate International Workers Day and focus public attention on the serious challenges facing working people.
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The PGFTU was founded in 1965 under Jordanian control, as the successor to the Arab Labours Society that had been set up in 1921 in Haifa. Following Israel’s conquest of the West Bank from Jordan, the PGFTU began operating as an independent entity, often meeting in secrecy due to the pre-Oslo restrictions on groups linked to the PLO. The PGFTU has traditionally had a close relationship to the Fatah party, the leading group within the PLO. However in 1993 the trade union wings of several other PLO factions including the Democratic Front, Popular Front, People’s Party (formerly the CP) and the FIDU (Palestinian Democratic Union Struggle Front) rejoined the PGFTU. Resolutions passed at the PGFTU’s Second Constitutional Conference in May 2004 enabled it to elect its executive board from member unions rather than by nomination from the different PLO factions.
The PGFTU consists of 13 national unions, each with regional and local organizations, in sectors such as Hotel/Tourism, Hospital, Textile/Clothing and Construction. It is estimated to have a membership of approximately 270,000, nearly 75% of Palestinian workers. In addition to a 30-member National Executive Committee (17 members from the West Bank, 13 from Gaza) there are also central departments, including Organization, Education, Legal, Women’s and Media/International. It has a headquarters in the West Bank city of Nablus with a second office in Gaza.
Shaher Sae’d has served as General Secretary of the PGFTU since 1994, with career as an active trade unionist in the West Bank since 1978, having previously served as PGFTU treasurer from 1985, becoming General Secretary of the West Bank General Federation of Trade Unions in 1987. Shaher is based at the PGFTU’s Nablus headquarters.
The PGFTU is the internationally recognized trade union centre for Palestine and has been a full member of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) since 2001. It maintains links to the Histadrut, with several agreements regarding workers fees and legal representation made during the Oslo- era. The effects of the ‘second Intifada’ have made relations between the two organisations more difficult, though they remain in regular contact.
The PGFTU has played an important role in promoting women’s rights in the occupied territories. Its women’s department was created in 1995 and in 2004 the PGFTU conference passed a resolution that created a quota of at least 20% female representation in all bodies in the local and national unions and in the executive committees.
For the PGFTU's own overview of their organisation Download file
For the PGFTU's Structure Download file
January 2005 ICFTU Report on Women workers in Palestine and the PGFTU (via PGFTU website)