In what can be seen as an important initial gain for Palestinian workers working in the Settlements and the independent Union Centre WAC MAAN, it was agreed today to start negotiations in the Zarfati Garage in Mishor Adumim and so the planned strike was canceled.
Workers at the Zarfati Garage, residents of the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority, joined The Independent Trade Union Centre MAAN (known formally in English as WAC) and began organizing to put an end to decades of exploitation.
July 17, 2013: The Independent Trade Union Centre WAC-MAAN today signed a factory-wide collective agreement with Jana Beverages, located in the industrial zone of Nazareth Illit, Northern Israel.
Following the workers at the Salit Quarry and Levi Metal & Wood, a third group of Palestinians employed by Israeli companies in the occupied West Bank is organizing with the Independent Trade Union Centre WAC-MAAN.
shows progress in organizing Jewish and Arab workers The independent
In view of the campaign against the workers by Israel’s right-wing government, WAC-MAAN’s annual General Assembly will discuss the organization’s strategy for the next year.
WAC-MAAN’s General Assembly for 2013 will take place on Sat. 15.6. Representatives from existing workers’ committees will attend, as well as persons involved in new organizing initiatives to form such committees. The versatile group organized within WAC-MAAN represents its progressive social and political orientation, making it a leading factor in the struggle for social justice, equality and peace.
Following a precedential verdict issued by the National Labor Court of Israel on 3/17/2013 preceded by a four years legal and organizational struggle, and after having insisted on fighting for direct employment, excavation workers, united by the Workers Advice Center (WAC-MAAN), got directly employed at the Israeli Antiquity Authority.
On April 21 the Israeli government voted to open Israeli skies to international air traffic, following an agreement with the European Union. This drastic step will bring about the dismissal of thousands of workers. It will open aviation to Israel to companies defined as Low Cost Companies (LCC). These companies, which are under no governmental control, reduce the prices of flights by cutting expenditure on flight safety and in particular by impoverishing employees: it ends in reducing salaries and transferring work to outsourcing firms, thereby eliminating, or significantly reducing, workers’ wages and social benefits.
On March 13, 2013 the independent trade union, WAC-Maan, declared an industrial dispute at “Jana Beverages Industries LTD” which produces light beverages. The factory is located in upper Nazareth’s industrial zone.
