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our site: www.workersadvicecenter.org
WAC's e-Report No. 16 December 2006
Dear friends,
In Solidarity,
The December report includes
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1. Unemployed and Bombed
Gazan workers in an Israeli hospital after the Beit Hanoun massacre in November 2006 a report by Nir Nader of WAC. Imad Abu Amara leads me through the corridors of the Ted Arison Tower at Ichilov Hospital, Tel-Aviv, to the wounded victims of the massacre at Beit Hanoun. Imad, 50, is not among Beit Hanoun's wounded. He is from Rafah, and already very familiar with hospital admissions. For 16 years he has been nursing his wife who was traumatized by shelling near their home which killed two and wounded dozens. But now a new slaughter has overshadowed the victims of the last shelling who remembers that killing now? Press here For the full article...
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Abed el-Hakim Athamneh (Left) and Ahmed Masoud Athamneh
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2. A Meeting of Women Agricultural workers in Kufr Qara on 11 November
A new experience in organizing Arab women. Sixty agricultural workers most of them Arab women - attended a unique meeting of agricultural workers that was held on 11 November at the initiative of WAC in its Kufr Qara center. The meeting was the first of its kind. Traditionally, agricultural workers have been considered the most oppressed layer of the working class. Many of them work without formal paychecks and no social benefits. The meeting was addressed by WAC leaders and activists: Assaf Adiv - national coordinator, Malek Murad field coordinator for the northern region, Khitam Na'amneh - field coordinator for the central region, Michal Shwartz organizer of WAC's Women's Forum, Dani Ben Simhoun agricultural workers organizer and Wafa Tayara, WAC's Kufr Qara branch organizer.
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Assaf Adiv talking to the agriculture workers
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3. The tentative program of the Labor Delegation to Israel / Palestine initiated by WAC
Schedule of an International Delegation of Labor Unions to visit Israel/Palestine, April 24 May 1, 2007 The delegation will examine general trends in the Israeli labor market focusing on the agricultural sector. Meetings with experts, government officials, and labor activists, as well as field trips, will acquaint the delegation with the status of migrant workers, Palestinian workers and Arab female workers in this sector. In addition the delegation will have a chance to visit the West Bank and to meet with Palestinian Trade Unionists. see details..
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Part of the women who participated in the meeting
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4. Educational TV workers continue their struggle
Following the June 2006 announcement by the Educational TV that it was intending to fire twenty temporary workers WAC initiated a strong legal and public campaign that led to a partial retreat by ETV management. Ten out of the 20 workers who were threatened with dismissal were reinstated. In this struggle, WAC had close collaboration with the Histadrut's State Employees Union and the local workers committee affiliated with it. Although not represented by the local committee and the Histadrut the temporary workers who joined WAC were supported by both. One of the workers who was spared in the first wave of dismissals in June was fired in September following the decision to stop the production of the program she was working on. WAC's lawyer Eran Golan appealed the case at the Regional Labor Court in Tel Aviv, in an attempt to stop the move. WAC is now also fighting a new initiative by management to reduce the number of temporary workers employed as freelancers to 12 days a month, and to replace them on the other days by new temps.
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Demonstration near the ETV building
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5. WAC starts placing workers in restaurants.
In June 2006 WAC started a new initiative in the direction of organizing workers in the hospitality sector. This initiative is the result of an alliance with leading restaurateur Tzahi Bukshester (one of four Israeli chefs who have a TV cooking show) who expressed an interest in working with WAC. In the following months, we succeeded in recruiting a few dozen workers for Bukshester's growing chain of restaurants, and created links with many other restaurants in the central region and Jerusalem. This initiative provides a good base for working with young Arab workers who suffer from high unemployment and exploitation.
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The first group of workers in a resturant in Tel-Aviv
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6. Professional training of young workers in collaboration with the Lito Group Ltd.
Metal factory In the past months WAC has developed links with the Lito Group, a major metal works located in Or Akiva (south of Haifa) and is currently negotiating the professional training of young workers with this firm. These connections were created with support from the Manufacturers' Association of Israel which has an ongoing relationship with WAC. In addition to the successful placement of six workers at the factory, we are in contact with the factory regarding a professional training course in the framework of the training division of the Ministry of Labor, with course graduates entering the factory workforce. At the end of September 2006 WAC representatives met with Lito's HR manager, and together agreed on the organization of a group of young workers for the course. As a result of this meeting, a meeting was held on 15 October with Isser Duvdevani, deputy-manager of the Ministry's training division, Haifa. We are now in the final stages of preparing the course, which will open shortly. WAC will recruit 18 workers from the triangle region. It should be noted that such a course in cooperation with an industry leader like the Lito Group and with the Ministry of Labor's training division lays the foundation for similar programs with other industrial plants. The project is being performed in coordination with and under the supervision of the Labor Division of the Manufacturers' Association.
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