International Relations
Organizing Palestinian workers: Raising the flag of solidarity.
MAAN Workers Association continues to raise the flag of international
23/12/2020
MAAN Workers Association continues to raise the flag of international
Wafa Tiara works for CAFOD partner in Tel Aviv, Workers Advice Centre Ma’an, which supports unorganised workers regardless of ethnicity or religion.
A WAC-MAAN delegation visited the UK last November at the invitation of the British Fire Brigade Union (FBU). WAC-MAAN leaders, Assaf Adiv and Waffa Tyara, joined 65 FBU activists in a seminar held in the city of Sheffield in the north of England.
At the beginning of October 2012, a delegation of the Workers Advice Center (WAC-Maan) visited Denmark and the Netherlands to strengthen ties with local unions there. Delegation members included WAC executive director Assaf Adiv and a representative of the Salit Quarries workers, Niaz Kadadha, from ’Atara, near Ramallah in the West Bank. The delegation emphasized WAC’s uniqueness as a union developed in partnership by Jews and Arabs, committed to struggling for every worker regardless of his or her religious or ethnic background.
Representatives of the independent union WAC-Ma’an took part in an international trade union conference in Istanbul in November, initiated by the LabourStart website and hosted by Turkish unions. Participants included some 100 representatives from 30 countries, among them European states, Australia, North America, Africa and Iran. However the most notable delegates came from the Arab states including the those who experienced firsthand the recent revolutions: Egypt and Tunisia. The conference concentrated primarily on the issue of the international workers’ movement and the Arab Spring.
The Board of FNV Bondgenoten the Netherlands has decided to support the Workers Advice Center in the Salit workers strike, with 2000 EURO.
intolerable working conditions, including the lack of facilities such as a dining room, washrooms or water cooler as well as the lack of health and safety protections, pay slips or pension insurance.
LaborStart of Canada sponsored the visit of Roni Ben Efrat, International Coordinator of the newly recognized union WAC-MA’AN, from May 15-20, 2011. WAC-MAAN is active among Jews and Arabs in Israel as well as East Jerusalem. Ben Efrat’s aim was to create new links with major unions in Canada.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers just had our legal strike ended by back to work legislation imposed by the Canadian Government. During the period of our strike and lockout we were overwhelmed by messages of support and solidarity from around the globe. This reinforced our belief about the need for international solidarity.
Jaida Zo’obi, In charge of Women capacity building in The Workers Advice Center (WAC-Ma’an) participated in events to celebrate International Women Day in Barcelona and its regions.
