The bill to weaken the trade unions by limiting their right to strike submitted by the chairman of the Constitution Committee MK Simcha Rothman (of the Religious Zionism party) is a frontal attack on the Israeli middle class and the poor. Through manipulative arguments, Rothman is trying to "solve" a problem that does not exist, in order to take away from the workers their only power, and open the gates to the runaway forces of capital. The extreme vision of the Beit Midrash of the Kohelet Forum (a right-wing think tank), whose influence is behind this bill, endangers not only the workers in Israel, but the fabric of society as a whole.
The right to strike, recognized today as a fundamental right derived from the right to unionize, is the main tool of the working public in Israel to improve its conditions. Thus, over the years, the right to strike has been used as a central tool for promoting the rights not only of the organized workers who are members of labor unions, but of all workers in the Israeli economy.
General strikes and threats of a general strike have been the main factor that pushed the Israeli governments to raise the minimum wage throughout the last decades. The last general strike held in the State of Israel, in 2012, was a demand to the government to reduce the phenomenon of contract employment. Following the threat of another general strike, many thousands of contractor workers employed in the public sector were absorbed into direct employment. The expansion order to promote the obligation to accommodate people with disabilities in workplaces was also achieved thanks to the Histadrut's power drawn from the right to strike.
The power of the strike is a balancing force in the system of power relations between employers and employees. This is true in both the private and public sectors. An example can be taken of the struggle of Pelephone and Bezeq International employees against the management's intention to unilaterally dissolve Bezeq International, which is a profitable company, while seriously infringing on the rights of the employees. Only thanks to their determined struggle, which included sanctions and strikes, did the management go back on this decision.
Another example is the struggle of the social workers, who were forced to go on strike for 17 days in 2020, against the background of the severe erosion of their wages and the repeated threats to their safety in light of the many attacks. This strike was the one that obliged the state to budget a protected program for the social workers, and gave birth to the social workers’ wage reform that the Ministry of Finance touts today as one of the most progressive agreements in the economy.
Contrary to the impression that emerges from the new bill, the right to strike is already limited today by the law and by the labor courts. The law requires negotiations to be concluded in good faith within 15 days of the declaration of the labor dispute.The labor courts do not allow strikes on political issues, and even limit the scope of strikes that demand regulation of rights of the workers affected as a result of government decisions.
For example, the Ashdod port workers waited over seven years from the enactment of the ports’ reform until they were allowed to strike in order to regulate their rights in the process. This strike, in the end, was not required, since from the moment they were allowed to strike, the state entered into accelerated negotiations and reached agreements regarding the need to adapt the infrastructure of the old port, so that it could truly compete with the new port that was established next to it.
In general, it should be noted that the strike figures in recent years in Israel are on a constant downward trend, according to the data published every year by the Chief Commissioner for Labor Relations in the Labor Department. Research by the Arlozorov Forum shows that while in 2003, the economy lost 1,357 working days per 1,000 employees due to strikes, the number of working days lost to the economy gradually decreased, and in 2011 only 209 working days were lost to the economy for every 1,000 employees. In 2019, only 32 days per 1,000 employees were lost to the economy. The Histadrut, certainly in recent years and during the height of the pandemic, practices great responsibility and statesmanship, and strives to achieve broad agreements with the state and employers' organizations in order to grow the economy and give it stability.
Another study published by the Arlozorov Forum reveals how the right to strike allows organized workers to improve their situation, thereby reducing inequality in society. According to the study, organized workers in Israel earn 13% more than unorganized workers. This study is also consistent with previous studies from around the world, which show a high correlation between the unionization rate and low rates of inequality. Meanwhile, Israel is already today characterized by high inequality relative to the Western world.
The purpose of the move that Rothman seeks to promote is not to improve the workers' organizations and organized labor, but rather to crush it and empty it of its content. The result of such a move is expected to be a significant weakening of the Israeli middle class, which is mostly made up of the working public in organized workplaces, and a serious injury to the weaker strata that organized labor protects.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Matt Levy.
