Solidarity with trade unions in the Middle East

Report of a TUC delegation to Israel and Palestine, January 2007

The TUC last sent a delegation to the Middle East in November 2003 (the report is on the web at www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-7781-f0.cfm). In 2006, the TUC took part in a Palestine Solidarity Conference at which Shaher Sae'd, the General Secretary of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) spoke, and he invited the TUC to return to the region for a further visit. During the summer, the TUC General Council adopted a statement on the violence in Gaza and Lebanon, and at Congress in September a composite resolution was adopted (see annex). At the founding conference of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in November, the TUC delegation met with the leaders of both the Histadrut from Israel and the PGFTU from Palestine (both members of the ITUC) and discussed the possibility of a delegation to see both.

From 13-16 January 2007, a TUC delegation consisting of General Secretary Brendan Barber, President Alison Shepherd, FBU President Ruth Winters and Owen Tudor from the TUC visited Tel Aviv and Ramallah for meetings with the leaderships of the Histadrut and PGFTU, and also met with senior politicians. The delegation was accompanied by Gemma Tumelty, NUS President. The delegation received considerable operational assistance from the FCO in arranging and conducting the visit, and thanks are due to the UK Ambassador to Israel, Tom Phillips CMG for his hospitality.

The delegation met with senior representatives of the Histadrut and its public sector and civil service union leaders in Tel Aviv, as well as meeting Ofer Eini, Histadrut's Chairman, who subsequently visited London a week later for further discussions. The delegation also met with the Leader of the Labour Party in Israel, Amir Peretz MK, who formerly chaired Histadrut and is now Minister of Defence. In Ramallah, the delegation met with leaders of the PGFTU, including Shaher Sae'd, the General Secretary, and Rasem al Bayari, the Deputy General Secretary who leads the PGFTU in Gaza. The PGFTU also arranged for the delegation to meet the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. Logistical problems prevented a meeting with the UK Consul General in Jerusalem, Richard Makepeace.

The peace process

1. In the aftermath of the war in Lebanon, the prospects for the peace process looked grim, but the delegation was presented with a range of positive signs. US and UK shuttle diplomacy had increased markedly, and US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice had met with President Abbas and Minister Peretz, among others, just before the TUC delegation visited them. There was a general feeling among the politicians that the efforts being made by the international community were genuine. But the occupation of the West Bank, the wall and the roadblocks continued to undermine the economic and psychological health of the Palestinians. And the weakness of the Israeli government (criticised by many inside Israel for not taking a firmer line with Hezbollah), coupled with the oppositional approach of the Hamas government in Palestine, left the trade union movements in Israel and Palestine with few reasons for optimism.

2. In Palestine, there was support from the PGFTU for the President's proposal to form a National Unity Government, and in Israel Minister Peretz indicated a willingness to negotiate with President Abbas and such a unity government. However, both President Abbas and Minister Peretz insisted that Hamas must agree to abide by past agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), including recognition of Israel's right to exist and the release of captured Israeli soldiers. However, Histadrut expressed concerns about the strength of the Labour Party, and the PGFTU were uncertain about claims that Fatah had recovered the support it had lost in the elections which had resulted in a Hamas government. Like the Labour Party, Histadrut had expressed support for the peace process, but were conscious that many of their members supported more hawkish parties such as Likud and Shas.

3. The day before the TUC visited Ramallah, Palestinian unions in education, health and public services had finally suspended a four month long strike caused by the non-payment of wages by the PA, with an agreement that should release wages to public sector workers. This dispute had resulted from the withholding of money due to the PA by the Israeli government, and the suspension of funding from the international community, but the unions felt that the Hamas government was also to blame. The TUC delegation was informed about a series of attacks on the trade union movement by Hamas, including militias which Hamas were developing as a result of taking control of the government. Just days after the TUC delegation met him in Ramallah, Rasem al Bayari was lucky to escape with his life when his home was attacked by rockets fired by people believed to be Hamas supporters (the TUC's letter of protest is on the web at www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-12915-f0.cfm).

4. The Israeli Government had reportedly agreed to release the tax money it owed to the PA just before the delegation visited, but the money had not been received by the time of the visit. A Temporary International Mechanism had been established by the international community to channel funds direct to front-line services, including payment of wages for workers in those services. The TUC delegation made clear to those we met that our view was that, in principle, the funds previously available to the PA should be restored in full, although the TUC had assisted in pressing the UK government to deliver funds by any means to Palestinian workers.

5. When meeting with Minister Peretz, the TUC delegation was briefed on his peace proposals, made public a few days later, and President Abbas also briefed the delegation on the proposal for tripartite talks between himself and Prime Minister Olmert of Israel, to be convened by the US Government. President Abbas stressed the need for the UK to engage more fully with the European Union's efforts, although he welcomed what the UK had done so far.

6. Everyone agreed that a two-state solution, based on the Road Map, still offered the only viable and sustainable prospect of peace in the region.

Industrial issues in Palestine

7. The PGFTU emphasised the damage that the occupation was doing not only to the Palestinian people, but also to Israel's economy. However, it was clear that the Palestinians are suffering most. There were over 400,000 unemployed people, and the unemployment rate which had fallen to 13% before the second intifada began had risen to 37% now. The PGFTU estimated that Palestinian workers had lost $2.3 billion (£1.2 billion) since the second intifada began). Tourism as an industry had all but collapsed, with 34 of Jerusalem's 42 hotels closed, and a workforce of 2,000 reduced to 550 (the same picture was reproduced in Bethlehem, Jericho and elsewhere). The 387 permanent Israeli roadblocks (and up to 200 mobile ones) as well as the wall, were cutting into the best land, separating villages, farms and families, and children were in particular suffering because of the persistent fighting. In Gaza, unemployment was now 85%. Water was inadequate, power unreliable, and the border and sea were closed.

8. The settlements on the West Bank were also causing specific industrial relations problems, because the Israeli government had decided that Jordanian labour law (replaced in the rest of the West Bank by more positive labour legislation) should continue to apply. This led to the payment of very low wages to the Palestinian workers in these settlements (up to 3,000 workers in the settlements around Jericho, for example).

9. The Palestinians also complained about two aspects of Israeli policy on trade. One was the export of goods produced in the illegal settlements to Europe with Made in Israel labels, and the other was the restriction on movement of perishable goods (like tomatoes and cut flowers) from Gaza. These goods needed to be moved quickly to market, and the delays caused by the restrictions were causing extra hardships. It was noted that Israel enjoys preferential trade status with the EU.

Industrial issues in Israel

10. The long-running dispute over non-payment of wages in the Palestinian public sector was, ironically, mirrored on a smaller scale on Israel, where Histadrut had called a general strike in November to put pressure on municipalities who were not paying wages (in particular in predominantly Arab areas, leading to solidarity strikes by port workers to support their Arab brothers and sisters). The failure to pay wages resulted from municipalities not receiving sufficient funds from central government which was still following Benjamin Netanyahu's spending curbs - perhaps proof of the PGFTU's argument that the occupation was hurting Israel's economy too.

11. The unions in Histadrut were facing a number of challenges. Pensions were under attack, and unions had been forced to agree 'second generation' terms for new workers, worse than the conditions of established employees (but sometimes resulting in contracted out work being brought back in house - subcontracting and individual contracts were major problems). Combating poverty at work was a major priority, and negotiations with employers and with the government had led to increases in the minimum wage (although Histadrut wanted a further increase to $1,000 a month from the original level of $700). Attention was turning to enforcement issues, where the scarcity of inspectors (twenty in the whole of Israel) was a problem both for unions and for good employers. One issue which it was suggested the Histadrut and TUC could address together was to identify UK firms operating in Israel to ensure that they were operating according to good employment relations principles such as union recognition.

Palestinian workers in Israel

12. One issue which affected both the Israeli and Palestinian trade union movements was the restriction on the number of Palestinians working in Israel. From a peak of over 200,000 before the second intifada - mostly in textiles and agriculture - the numbers had declined to less than a tenth of that. This was causing enormous problems for Palestinian workers deprived of an income, but was also leading to problems for Histadrut who had recruited and represented them, and had found them replaced by migrant workers mostly from Asia who were paid less (undermining Israeli wages as well) and were more difficult to organise.

13. When there had been large numbers of Palestinians working in Israel, the Histadrut and PGFTU had concluded an agreement that provided for Histadrut to recruit and represent those workers, but remit a proportion of their subscriptions to the PGFTU. The agreement, signed in 1995, had operated until the second intifada began, but had then been suspended by the Israeli Government, and had not been restarted despite some discussions. There were considerable arrears owed to the PGFTU, and a continuing but much smaller amount due for the few remaining workers.

14. Both Histadrut and the PGFTU asked the TUC delegation to assist in resolving the situation either by providing a venue for discussions or mediation, and this was reiterated by Ofer Eini when he visited London the week after the delegation returned. Resolving this issue would, both sides confirmed, make it much more easy to promote further joint work by the two organisations, which is something both of them expressed a desire to do. Such joint work might include joint discussions on the economic future of the region, which the TUC knows is of concern also to the UK government.

Solidarity with the PGFTU

15. Whilst the TUC maintains good relations with both the Histadrut and PGFTU, and stands ready as ever to assist in any joint activities or discussions they wish to undertake, and whilst the TUC continues to express normal trade union solidarity with the Histadrut in its industrial relations work, the problems facing the PGFTU are far more serious, and therefore command far more investment by the TUC and British unions, as the 2006 Congress Resolution (which had been widely and positively reported in Palestine) expressed. The delegation discussed with the PGFTU leadership a number of measures that could be taken to express practical solidarity with Palestinian unions.

16. The PGFTU reported on a very successful but unsustainable project between the public sector union and Unison which provided £50,000 for advocacy work to ensure that workers were able to exercise their employment rights, and the PGFTU proposed a series of capacity building programmes which the TUC and unions could support. These covered support for workers' awareness of their rights and of the need for trade unionism; enhancing the role of the PGFTU in civil society; and developing the media and information services of the PGFTU; as well as specific programmes to build the capacity of the youth and women's [1] organisations of the PGFTU.

17. These capacity building programmes were important in ensuring that the PGFTU continues to function and is able to hold internal elections and a Congress to decide on strategies for the next four years. But the PGFTU also wanted to develop relationships between the TUC and PGFTU and between sister unions, once elections had been held. It was suggested that a memorandum of understanding between the two national centres might be considered, formalising the process of establishing contacts.

Conclusions and recommendations

The essential basis of the TUC's position on the Middle East peace process and relations with the trade union movements in Israel and Palestine remains the same as expressed in previous delegation reports, General Council statements and Congress resolutions. We believe in justice for the Palestinian people and a two state solution, achieved by adherence to the Road Map and UN resolutions and including the removal of restrictions on Palestinian movement such as the wall and roadblocks; and the maintenance of friendly relations with Histadrut and the PGFTU, partly out of international trade union solidarity, and partly because such relations will benefit Palestinian working people.

The following actions could follow the Congress resolution [2] and the findings of this TUC delegation. The TUC should:

• facilitate contact between the Histadrut and the PGFTU to resolve the outstanding issue of subscription remittances to the PGFTU;
• consider with unions the design, delivery and funding of the proposed solidarity programmes suggested by the PGFTU;
• consider subsequently a memorandum of understanding with the PGFTU to cover solidarity and contacts between Palestinian and British trade unions;
• raise with the ETUC and the UK government the issue of goods from the occupied territories, and restrictions on movement of perishable goods from Gaza; and
• continue to support measures by the ITUC to promote a just peace in the Middle East, and press the UK government to restore funding to the PA and to become more engaged in EU activity over the Middle East.

Annex: Congress 2006 Composite Resolution on Palestine

Congress supports:

• the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination;
• the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland;
• the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all occupied territories; and
• the removal of the illegally constructed 'apartheid wall'.

Congress believes that the achievement of justice for the Palestinians will help bring peace to the Middle East and to the people of Israel.

Congress condemns the Government of Israel's suspension of revenue payments to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the suspension of aid by the European Union, the United States Administration and others. These actions, which threaten the wages of approximately 160,000 workers and the well-being of the Palestinian people as a whole, are condemned by the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions.

Congress condemns the recent Israeli attack on the Gaza City power station, the use of sonic booms over Gaza, and the seizure of members of the democratically elected Palestinian government.

Congress resolves to ask the General Council to:

• a) call on the British Government to maintain all funding to the PA and call for the restoration of all EU and other international aid to the PA;
• b) pressurise the Government of Israel to restore the revenues collected by them to their rightful owners, the PA;
• c) make appropriate representations to the quartet (US, EU, Russia and the UN) to take immediate steps to achieve a negotiated settlement based on justice for the Palestinians;
• d) raise these issues in the ETUC, ICFTU, Histadrut and ILO and all appropriate international and national bodies;
• e) continue to make every effort to promote dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli trade unionists and the building of direct links with Palestinian trade unions;
• f) seek to bring about greater cooperation amongst solidarity organisations supporting the rights of the Palestinian people, such as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and encourage all affiliates to affiliate; and
• g) call on the British Government to make public its concern at Israel's continued attacks on Gaza.

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[1] Women's underlying participation rate in the workforce was reported to the TUC delegation as 13%, was much higher in the public sector. Only 8% of the PGFTU's membership are women, but there are rules requiring that 20% of leading positions are held for women. Low pay and discrimination were described as rife, and private sector employment for women in traditional occupations such as textiles had been effectively closed down by the second intifada. 60% of women workers were now in the informal sector. Concerns were expressed about the social policies of Hamas towards women.

[2] As well as the proposals contained in the Congress resolution about solidarity organisations in the UK, which are not dealt with by this report except inasmuch as they relate to the PGFTU's preference for direct contacts between the TUC and PGFTU.