Blog: Heart Unions, Heart Palestinian workers rights

It’s unlikely that the owners of the Zarfarti garage realised it was heart unions week when they signed a collective agreement with the trade union WAC-MAAN on Valentine’s Day. It was definitely a heart unions day for workers at the garage, who have finally won a four year struggle to gain recognition for WAC-MAAN. The Zarfarti garage is one of 300 businesses in the Mishor Adumim Industrial Zone. According to international law it’s located in an illegal settlement on Palestinian land; but as this is Area C, which makes up over 60 per cent of the West Bank, it’s completely under the control of the Israeli authorities. Most Palestinians don’t want to work in the industrial zone, but have little choice as the occupation means a viable Palestinian economy is virtually impossible. As such they endure low pay, long hours and precarious work in poor conditions. In July 2014, after almost a year of negotiations that brought limited gains for workers but no collective agreement, the owners attempted to fire Hatem Abu Ziade, the head of the workers committee. They falsely accused him of sabotaging a military vehicle and barred him from entering the industrial zone for “security based” reasons. Hatem’s story is not unusual. He had worked at the garage for 17 years without any complaints. When Hatem attempted to organise his colleagues, the owners assumed he could dismiss him and shut down the union without any consequences. On this occasion they were wrong. The UNISON I...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: General secretary's blog News international Palestine Source Type: news