Levi Metal & Wood Ltd., a private furniture manufacturing company established thirty years ago, employs dozens of Palestinian workers, most of them from the Jericho area.
In July 2025, the company’s workers organized under MAAN, and when 27 out of the 40 workers of the company signed union cards MAAN guaranteed the legal standing of a representative union. (The law in Israel requires a third of the workforce for such a recognition.)
Since then MAAN and the workers worked hard with the company’s management in an effort to reach a collective agreement. Despite a number of setbacks and several motions filed by MAAN with the Jerusalem Regional Labor Court, negotiations accelerated from March 2026 with the assistance of the mediator Israel Schulderman, who was appointed by the Labor Court.
The agreement, signed on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, at the company’s factory in Mishor Adumim, covers all production workers and will remain in force for three years.
Main Provisions of the Agreement
- Establishment of a four-tier wage scale based on professional skill levels, with corresponding wage increases.
- An additional paid holiday beyond the nine holidays provided by law. The extra holiday will be the first day of Eid al-Fitr each year.
- One paid daily prayer break, counted as working time.
- Short smoking breaks without deduction from wages.
- Annual provision of work clothing and safety shoes.
- The company’s obligation to provide all necessary protective equipment to ensure workers’ safety.
- Mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation regarding dismissal procedures and disciplinary measures.
Prior to signing the agreement, MAAN held elections for the workers’ committee. Five veteran employees were elected with the support of the entire workforce.
Ahmad Samhouri, a member of the workers’ committee and one of the organizers of the unionization campaign, said that since the workers joined MAAN, the negotiations had been conducted in an orderly and constructive manner: “Whenever workers are harmed or there is an attempt to weaken them, MAAN knows how to stand by their side. I call on all workers in Israel, especially those who are in a situation similar to ours in the settlements, to turn to MAAN because it is a living, active workers’ organization that works on the ground for employees.”
Ali Najoum, another elected committee member, added: “As workers at Levi Metal, we place our trust in MAAN Workers Association. We know that there are many problems in our workplace, and our goal is to organize within a union that will protect our rights. We believe the union can make progress, solve problems, assist in cases of dismissal and workplace disputes, and show workers that they have real power only when they are organized. We trust MAAN as a respected and effective trade union, which will safeguard our rights at all times.”
MAAN continues its efforts to organize and defend Palestinian workers employed in Israeli settlements and in the Atarot Industrial Zone. The workers of Levi Metal & Wood now join employees at a growing number of companies where MAAN has concluded collective agreements in recent years, including Zarfati Garage (a second agreement signed in 2023), Rajouan Food Company in Atarot (currently finalizing a second agreement), and N.A. Metal in Mishor Adumim (a second agreement signed in 2023).
