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Histadrut, or the General Organization of Workers in Israel, originally ( he, ההסתדרות הכללית של העובדים בארץ ישראל, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
's
national trade union center A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national trade union center, and many have more than one. In some regions, such a ...
and represents the majority of Israel's
trade unionists A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...
. Established in December 1920 in
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
, it soon became one of the most powerful institutions in the
Yishuv Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the ...
(the body of Jewish residents in the region prior to the establishment of the state). Today, it has 800,000 members.


History

The Histadrut was founded in December 1920 in
Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
to look out for the interests of
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
workers. Until 1920,
Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda ( he, אַחְדוּת הַעֲבוֹדָה, lit. ''Labour Unity'') was the name used by a series of political parties. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the perio ...
and
Hapoel Hatzair Hapoel Hatzair ( he, הפועל הצעיר, "The Young Worker") was a Zionist group active in Palestine from 1905 until 1930. It was founded by A.D. Gordon, Yosef Aharonovich, Yosef Sprinzak and followed a non-Marxist, Zionist, socialist agenda ...
had been unable to set up a unified workers organisation. In 1920,
Third Aliyah The Third Aliyah ( he, העלייה השלישית, ''HaAliyah HaShlishit'') refers to the third wave—or aliyah—of modern Jewish immigration to Palestine from Europe. This wave lasted from 1919, just after the end of World War I, until 19 ...
immigrants founded Gdud HaAvoda and demanded a unified organization for all Jewish workers, which led to the establishment of the Histadrut.Z. Tzahor, "The Histadrut", in ''Essential papers on Zionism'', 1996, Reinharz & Shapira (eds.) At the end of 1921
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...
was elected as Secretary. Membership grew from 4,400 in 1920 and to 8,394 members in 1922. By 1927, the Histadrut had around 22,000 members, accounting for 68% of the Jewish workforce in Mandatory Palestine. In 1939, its membership stood at about 100,000, or about 75% of the Jewish workforce.


Labor Zionism

More important than the 1917 American Federation of Labor (AFL) resolution recognizing "the legitimate claims of the Jewish people for the establishment of a national homeland in Palestine on the basis of self-government", was the grassroots campaign to finance Histadrut land purchases, infrastructure development and the establishment of farm cooperatives. Jewish garment workers in the US in the early 20th century looked more to local improvements than the promises of Labor Zionism. The symbolic AFL endorsement of the Balfour Declaration failed to advance Zionist goals on the ground and many Jewish labor leaders were opposed to Zionist endeavors until the 1920 founding of Histadrut began to change their views. Within three years some labor leaders had reversed their positions, calling for moral and financial support for Histadrut. The garment unions
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Indus ...
and International Ladies Garment Workers Union extended their support to Histadrut. The Histadrut became one of the most powerful institutions in the state of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, a mainstay of the
Labour Zionist Labor Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת סוֹצְיָאלִיסְטִית, ) or socialist Zionism ( he, תְּנוּעָת הָעַבוֹדָה, label=none, translit=Tnuʽat haʽavoda) refers to the left-wing, socialist variation of Zionism. ...
movement and, aside from being a trade union, its state-building role made it the owner of a number of businesses and factories. Until Israel began moving away from a socialist economy, the Histadrut, along with the government, owned most of the economy. It was the second largest employer in the country next to the government itself via its many cooperative enterprises. Through its economic arm, ''Hevrat HaOvdim'' ("Society of Workers"), the Histadrut owned and operated a numerous enterprises, including the country's largest industrial conglomerates, the country's largest
bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...
, Bank Hapoalim, and the country's largest shipping company,
ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., commonly known as ZIM ( he, צים, ''tsim''; a biblical word meaning "a fleet of ships", Numbers 24:24), is a publicly held Israeli international cargo shipping company, and one of the top 20 glo ...
. The Israeli services sector was completely dominated by the Histadrut and government, and the Histadrut also largely dominated public transport, agriculture, and insurance industries. In addition, it owned
Clalit Health Services Clalit, ( he, שירותי בריאות כללית, General Health Services; previously – , General Sick Fund), is the largest of Israel's four state-mandated health service organizations, charged with administering health care services and fund ...
, Israel's largest Kupat Holim, or health insurance and medical services fund. Clalit was the only health fund in the country to accept members without discriminating based on their age or medical situation, but with the condition that they must also be members of the Histadrut labor union. As such, many Israelis were dependent on Histadrut membership for their health insurance. In the mid-1980s, an estimated 70% of the Israeli population was insured by Clalit.


Neoliberalism

With the increasing liberalization and deregulation of the Israeli economy since the 1980s, the role and size of Histadrut declined. Hyperinflation saddled its business empire with enormous debts, and slow economic growth exposed its inefficiencies. Due to debts, the Histadrut began giving up its business holdings. It lost control of Bank Hapoalim in the aftermath of the 1983 Israel bank stock crisis, when the Israeli government nationalized it along with other major banks. A notable shift in power took place in 1994 when the Labor Party lost its leadership and governing role in the Histadrut, and a new party named RAM, composed of individuals who had left the Labor Party due to internal power struggles took charge and began to sell off or eliminate its non-union-related assets and activities, proclaiming that from then on, it would function solely as a trade union. The most severe blow came when Israel's National Health Insurance Law came into effect in 1995, instituting a national
universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...
framework and reorganizing the Israeli healthcare system. Under the law, Clalit's tie to the Histadrut was severed and Israelis were given a choice in membership between Clalit and the three other Israeli health insurance funds, which were now prohibited from discriminating against applicants for age and medical reasons. Once an affiliation with the Histadrut was no longer a prerequisite for membership in Clalit, many of its insured dropped their labor union membership, while others switched to other health funds now that age or pre-existing conditions no longer precluded them from joining. This resulted in one of the largest declines in union membership in labor history. The Histadrut's membership plunged almost instantly from 1.8 million (almost 80% of the workforce at the time) to about 200,000 members. The loss of revenue generated from Clalit's health insurance premiums and
union dues Union dues are a regular payment of money made by members of unions. Dues are the cost of membership; they are used to fund the various activities which the union engages in. Nearly all unions require their members to pay dues. Variation Many ...
caused an enormous decline in the Histadrut's resources, and it was forced to sell off valuable real estate assets to survive.


Membership

Membership in 1983 was 1,600,000 (including dependents), accounting for more than one-third of the total population of Israel and about 85% of all wage earners. About 170,000 Histadrut members were
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
(who were admitted to membership starting in 1959). In 1989, the Histadrut was the employer of approximately 280,000 workers. The Histadrut managed to recover from its low point in membership and gradually grow in membership. In 2005, it had about 650,000 members. To this day, the Histadrut still remains a powerful force in Israeli society and the economy. In 2017 it had 570,000 members and a total of 700,000 workers being employed under
collective agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
s it has negotiated with employers in the country.


Recent

Following its support of the
2011 Israeli social justice protests The 2011 Israeli social justice protests ( he, מְחָאַת צֶדֶק חֶבְרָתִי), which are also referred to by various other names in the media, were a series of demonstrations in Israel beginning in July 2011 involving hundreds of ...
, on February 8, 2012, Histadrut called a
general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
in support of lower-paid subcontracted, and unorganized workers, negotiating with both the government and private employers on their behalf, demanding that the subcontracted workers be hired directly and be offered the pay and benefits granted to regular employees. A settlement was announced on Sunday, February 12, which provided for some gains by the subcontractors, but also for a 3-year moratorium on further strikes over subcontractor issues.


Goals

The initial aim of the Histadrut was to take responsibility for all spheres of activity of the worker's movement: settlement, defense, trade unions, education, housing construction, health, banking, cooperative ventures, welfare and even culture. The Histadrut took over economic firms operated by the parties, which operated by subcontracting, and their Office of Information, which was expanded into a Labor Exchange. Already after a few months, the Histadrut became the single largest employer in the Yishuv. The Histadrut succeeded in improving worker's rights as e.g. the right to strike was recognised, employers had to motivate dismissal and workers got a place to turn to with their complaints. In the first year of its existence, the Histadrut lacked central leadership, and many initiatives were taken at the local level. This changed after
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...
became appointed in the General Secretariat. Ben-Gurion wanted to transform the Histadrut into a national instrument for the realisation of Zionism.Z. Tzahor, "The Histadrut", in ''Essential papers on Zionism, 1996, Reinharz & Shapira (eds.) , p. 486 According to
Zeev Sternhell Zeev Sternhell ( he, זאב שטרנהל; 10 April 1935 – 21 June 2020) was a Polish-born Israeli historian, political scientist, commentator on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and writer. He was one of the world's leading theorists of the ...
Ben-Gurion's exclusive commitment to this goal is illustrated by a December 1922 quote:
..Our central problem is immigration ... and not adapting our lives to this or that doctrine. ..How can we run our Zionist movement in such a way that .. wewill be able to carry out the conquest of the land by the Jewish worker, and which will find the resources to organise the massive immigration and settlement of workers through their own capabilities? The creation of a new Zionist movement, a Zionist movement of workers, is the first prerequisite for the fulfillment of Zionism. ..Without
uch Uch ( pa, ; ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ; ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexan ...
a new Zionist movement that is entirely at our disposal, there is no future or hope for our activities
Ben-Gurion transformed the Histadrut in a few months. He set up a well-defined hierarchy and reduced the competencies of local workers' councils. He also centralised the collection of membership dues, most of which were formerly used up by local branches. Absorption of immigration was seen as a very important task of the Histadrut. Providing immigrants with work was often seen as more important than the financial soundness of its operations. The labor leaders saw the failure to absorb immigrants as a
moral bankruptcy Amorality is an absence of, indifference towards, disregard for, or incapacity for morality. Some simply refer to it as a case of not being moral or immoral. Amoral should not be confused with ''immoral'', which refers to an agent doing or thin ...
that was much worse than financial bankruptcy. In 1924 the Histadrut's Office for Public Works collapsed and went bankrupt, and in 1927 the same happened to its successor, the privatised Solel Boneh. In both cases, the Zionist Executive bailed them out and recognised the deficit in the category of "expenses for immigration absorption". The Zionist Executive, sharing the goal of stimulating immigration with the Histadrut, had to do this because besides the Histadrut there was no other organisation in Palestine with the ability to absorb immigrants. By 1930 the Histadrut had become the central organisation of the Yishuv. It did what the Zionist Executive wanted, but was unable to do: absorb immigrants and organise the agricultural settlement, defense and expansion into new areas of production. According to Tzahor the Histadrut had become "the executive arm of the Zionist movement—but an arm acting on its own". It had become a "state in the making".Z. Tzahor, "The Histadrut", in ''Essential papers on Zionism'', 1996, Reinharz & Shapira (eds.) , p. 505–506 According to Tzahor, while the Histadrut focused on constructive action, its leaders did not "abandon fundamental ideological principles". However, according to Ze'ev Sternhell in his book '' The Founding Myths of Israel'', the labor leaders had already abandoned socialist principles by 1920 and only used them as "mobilizing myths".


Leadership

The chairman of the Histadrut today is
Arnon Bar-David Arnon Bar-David (born 1957) is an Israeli trade unionist and civil servant. He is the Chairman of the Histadrut since March 2019. Biography Arnon Bar-David was born in 1957 in Tel Aviv. his father worked in the city's water plant. In 1975, Bar-D ...
.


Criticism

The Histadrut has been criticized by European trade unions and international human rights groups over its failure to represent migrant workers, considered to be the most maltreated employees in Israel. In 2009, the Histadrut began accepting memberships of migrant workers. Another criticism of the Histadrut is that it appears to protect powerful interest groups in the labor market, i.e., that it does not protect all workers.The myth they sell you on Netanyahu and the media - and who truly invented, bred and nurtured the tycoons. Regev, Nissenkorn, Moses, Fishman and Netanyahu give a lesson in democracy
(6 August 2016), Guy Rolnik, ''
TheMarker ''TheMarker'' ( he, דה-מרקר) is a Hebrew-language daily business newspaper published by the Haaretz group in Israel. ''TheMarker'' was founded in 1999 by journalist and entrepreneur Guy Rolnik along with Haaretz group and U.S.-based inv ...
''


See also

* 1965 Histadrut election *
Federation of Arab Trade Unions and Labor Societies FATULS, the Federation of Arab Trade Unions and Labor Societies (''Ittihad al-Niqabat wa'l-Jam'iyyat al-'Arabiyya'', ar, اتحاد النقابات والجمعيات العربية, later known as the Arab Workers' Congress) was an Arab trade un ...
*
Palestine Arab Workers Society The Palestine Arab Workers' Society (PAWS - ''Jam'iyyat al-'Ummal al-'Arabiyya al-Filastiniyya''), established in 1925, was the main Arab labor organization in the British Mandate of Palestine, with its headquarters in Haifa. The Palestine Arab ...
*
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), also called the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions or Palestinian Trade Union Federation (and, briefly, General Trade Union Federation in Palestine), is a national trade union ce ...
*
Kav LaOved Kav La'Oved ( he, קו לעובד "Worker's Hotline") is an Israeli non-profit association, founded in 1991. Its objective is to protect the rights of disadvantaged workers. It provides information, advice, and legal representation for the most dep ...
* Koach LaOvdim


References


External links

*Histadrut English Website, https://global.histadrut.org.il/ *Histadrut Hebrew Website, https://www.histadrut.org.il/ *Asaf Zvi
The Histadrut Turns 100: A Look into its Far-Reaching Role in Shaping Israel and its Workers
Davar ''Davar'' ( he, דבר, lit. ''Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. It was relaunched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an online outlet by th ...
, 21.12.20
Paradise Lost: Histadrut through the yearsThe Unmaking of the Histadrut
{{Histadrut leaders Jewish organizations in Mandatory Palestine Zionist organizations Trade unions in Israel ICFTU Asia and Pacific Regional Organisation Trade unions established in 1920 National federations of trade unions 1920 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Labor Zionism