Decisive Win for Workers: Planned Reorganization of Labor Agency Called Off

Updated Jan. 24, 2023

The State Employees’ Union announced that, due to their efforts, the Directorate General of Labor, which is responsible for professional training and regulation in the area of workers' rights, will not be split up. All units will instead be kept together and transferred in their entirety to the Ministry of Welfare, and will later be incorporated into the Ministry of Labor once it is formed by the new government.

"We fought and we won!” said Ofir Alcalay, chairman of the State Employees’ Union (SEU), which represents the Directorate General’s employees. “The determination and cooperation of the Histadrut working alongside the Directorate General has achieved this. After the struggle we waged, the 900 workers of the Directorate General and the citizens of the State of Israel can be satisfied that the government's decision on the establishment of a Labor Ministry will take place and that the Directorate General in its entirety will be a part of it.”

Yoni Abuchatzira, chairman of the Directorate General of Labor Employees’ Union, told Davar: “I am very grateful to Ofir Alcalay, the chairman of the State Employees’ Union, who helpful us, as well as to Danny Bonfil, the chairman of the Jerusalem district of the Histadrut, who supported our struggle, and of course, Arnon Bar-David, the chairman of the Histadrut, for his determination. This is a huge victory for the Israeli public as a whole, and for the employees of the Directorate General, and for the Histadrut."

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Hundreds of employees of the Directorate General of Labor, an independent agency under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy, protested in front of the Jerusalem office of Economy Minister Nir Barkat last week amid ongoing tensions over the new government’s plan to unilaterally transfer certain units of the Directorate General to the Ministry of Welfare.

According to coalition agreements made between Likud and Shas during the process of consolidating the current government, the units to be transferred to the Ministry of Welfare include the Senior Division for Professional Training and Personnel Development, the Government Institute for Technological Training, and the Administration for Employment of Special Populations, which is responsible for supporting the integration of Arabs, Haredim, women and people with disabilities into the labor market.

The planned fragmentation of the Directorate General has been widely criticized, both by the Histadrut and by certain employers’ organizations, who cite the fact that numerous expert committees have consistently recommended that the government’s powers relating to the promotion of employment should be concentrated under one body, as is the standard practice in most OECD countries.

"The dismantling of the Directorate General of Labor is a serious mistake that will harm the citizens of Israel, and especially disadvantaged populations," said Ofir Alcalay, chairman of the State Employees’ Union (SEU), which represents the Directorate General’s employees. "This is a move that will harm the dedicated employees of the Directorate General."

Economy Minister Nir Barkat (Photo: Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Yoni Abuchatzira, chairman of the Directorate General of Labor Employees’ Union, argued that there is a close relationship between the work of the various units in the Directorate General, which specialize in areas including law, employment matters, daycare, work safety, professional training and occupational regulation.

"They depend on each other and work together to constitute a holistic body that can be responsible for matters of labor and employment on an institutional level," Abuchatzira said. "Separating them from each other on a professional level misses the point of the Directorate General, it jeopardizes the employees’ sense of belonging and carries additional, unnecessary financial costs, which is something we really do not need at this time."

Ofir Alcalay, Chairman of the State Employees' Union: "Tearing units from the Directorate General will harm the populations that need them most" (Photo: Oren Cohen, Histadrut Spokesperson)

Prior to last week’s protest, a labor dispute had been declared by the SEU and approved by Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David. The declaration of a labor dispute is a legal measure that must precede the launch of a strike. If after two weeks there is no progress in negotiations between the parties, workers will be authorized to take additional organizational measures, including going on strike.

The formal declaration was sent by Doron Karni, Deputy Chairman of the SEU, to the chief supervisor of labor relations in the Directorate General, attorney Rivka Werbner. The declaration states that the intended transfer of certain units would have significant consequences for the occupational security, working conditions and wages of the workers, and that the plan was drafted "without conducting negotiations with the workers' representatives regarding the consequences, as is required by our long-standing labor relations system."

This article was translated from Hebrew by Rose Angela.