April 2008 Update
TUFI’s monthly update looks at important trade union issues in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the Middle East Peace Process, regional developments, domestic Israeli and Palestinian affairs and primary issues affecting British trade union policy on Israel
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.
The Minister of Finance, Ronnie Bar-On, welcomed the agreement saying that it was important for labour relations and would “benefit workers and pensioners, while taking into account the government's budgetary limitations and the capacity of the economy." Ofer Eini said the agreement underscored the commitment of Histadrut members to their retired colleagues and proved that “workers and pensioners are one.”
Israeli Industrial News: New system expected to help protect Thai workers from exploitation
A new system for employing Thai agricultural workers in Israel is to be implemented in May 2008. The new regulations are expected to greatly reduce exploitation by agents and employers. Israeli work agencies will soon have to sign an agreement with the Thai Office of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and will not be able to charge each prospective worker more than £500. The Industry, Trade and Labour Ministry said the new arrangement would prevent excessive commission charges and provide "fair and transparent hiring services."
Kav La'Oved, an organisation committed to protecting the rights of disadvantaged workers in Israel and the Palestinian territories, has been campaigning for such arrangements between Israel and international organisations for years. They claim that since 2006, agents and employers have taken a total of £150 million from individuals who legally entered Israel and that many workers have spent up to two years paying off loans taken out to pay agents.
Israeli Industrial News: Striking workers cause delay in opening of Israeli stock market
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) was forced to shut down all operational computer systems for three hours on the 7 April after contract workers went on strike, demanding full-time status. The General Secretary of the TASE Workers’ Union, Yitzhak Lerner, said they had been left with no other option after the stock exchange management had continuously ignored their requests to negotiate.
The strikers returned to work after Ofer Eini, the chairman of the Histadrut (Israeli TUC), managed to broker a temporary compromise, offering to mediate and help resolve the two month dispute.
Israeli Industrial News: Workers strike longer
The number of work days lost to the Israeli economy as a result of strikes rocketed by 1771% to 2.5 million in 2007 compared with just 136 days in 2006, according to a report released on 8 April by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour.
Labour relations division head, Shlomo Yitzhaki, attributed the dramatic increase to the prolonged strikes staged by the Secondary School Teachers’ Union and senior faculty staff at universities, as well as public sector strikes launched by the Histadurt. Strikes in the education sector accounted for 86% of the days lost to the economy.
British Trade Union News: National Union of Journalists reaffirms commitment not to boycott Israel
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) passed a motion on 4 April at their Annual Delegate Meeting in Belfast, committing and reaffirming their decision made in July 2007 to take “no further action” in implementing a boycott of Israel.
The General Secretary of the NUJ, Jeremy Dear, spoke at length himself on behalf of the National Executive Council’s position and said he wanted the union to “move on” from calls of a boycott; engage with sister unions in Israel, and concentrate on providing support to journalists and trade unionists defending workers’ rights and media freedoms in the region.
British Trade Union News: STUC remit motion calling for an Israeli boycott
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) voted on 22 April at its annual conference to remit a motion calling for a boycott of Israeli goods. The STUC General Council argued that there had been no clear call for a boycott by the Palestinian General Federation of Trades unions (PGFTU) and that the STUC needed to investigate the situation further and continue working with their Palestinian and Israeli counterparts.
Gaza: Hamas bans protests in Gaza
The militant group in control of the Gaza Strip has banned protests. The police have also warned refugee camps in Gaza against celebrations without permission. On 26 April, Hamas said that “the Palestinian Police call upon any party that wish to organise a public assembly or celebration to obtain prior permission from the relevant authority in the police force." The latest orders came amid a Hamas crackdown against Fatah and other opposition movements in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza: Palestinian militant groups in Cairo talks
Officials from three Palestinian militant groups meet in Cairo on 29 April for talks with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Omar Suleiman. The aim of the talks was to draft a common position on any truce proposal with Israel over the Gaza Strip.
Israel has so far dismissed an Egyptian mediated six-month truce proposed by Hamas, calling it a ploy to buy time, re-arm and re-group. Statements by Hamas officials in the past few days corroborate this view: on 24 April, Hamas’ Gaza spokesman, Ayman Taha, said that Hamas would not stop arms smuggling during any truce, and on 26 April, Hamas’ political leader, Khaled Meshal, said that Hamas would accept an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire but it would only be a “tactic” in the group’s conflict with Israel.
Gaza: Israeli operations in Gaza continue amid increased rocket and terror attacks
Palestinian militant groups have continued to fire makeshift rockets into southern Israel throughout April. After a relative lull at the beginning of the month, over 100 Qassam rockets and mortar shells have been fired from the Gaza strip at Israeli civilian targets in the past few weeks. Hamas has also been carrying out sustained attacks along the Israeli-Gaza border, killing three soldiers in an ambush on 16 April.
In response to the attacks, Israel has launched ground and air operations in the Gaza Strip. On 16 April, Israel launched air strikes which killed 20 Palestinians, including five minors and a Reuters cameraman. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) announced on 21 April that it will launch an investigation into the killing of the cameraman who was travelling in a car marked as press. In one of the latest operations, four Palestinian children and their mother were killed in an explosion on 28 April in their house in the town of Beit Hamoun in Gaza. The Israeli army has said that explosives carried by Palestinian militants were responsible for the deaths.
Gaza: Hamas attack fuel trucks entering Gaza
Hamas has been accused by Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the EU of taking action to worsen the crisis in the Gaza Strip with the aim of increasing international criticism on Israel. Hamas is preventing the distribution of fuel to Gaza by launching attacks against delivery trucks destined for Gaza. The latest such attack was at the Nahal Oz border crossing on Sunday (27 April), which prevented the fuel reaching the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and hospitals inside Gaza. An EU statement from the EU President released on 25 April openly condemned Hamas for the role they are playing in “aggravating the humanitarian situation” in Gaza.
MEPP: Israel dismantles roadblock in the West Bank
Middle East Envoy Tony Blair has presented Israel with a list of West Bank travel and trade restrictions he wants removed in order to help the possibility for Palestinian economic regeneration. The list is the first of its kind to be presented by Blair since he was appointed Middle East Envoy is June 2007 and is an attempt to spearhead efforts to revive the Palestinian economy. The specific details of the list have not yet been made public.
Ahead of the publication of the list, Israel removed a key checkpoint near Nablus in the West Bank on 28 April allowing Palestinian vehicles and pedestrians to move unhindered between Nablus and the village of Assira al-Shamalia to the north of the town. The crossing is one of 61 West Bank barriers which Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered to be removed last month (29 March) to improve movement and access for the Palestinians and bolster their faltering economy. So far 47 roadblocks have been removed throughout the West Bank since Barak’s pledge. The Israeli army has been reluctant to remove roadblocks that it says are crucial in helping stop terrorist attacks but have agreed to remove all non-essential roadblocks.
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