Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions
Encyclopedia
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 center
in the Palestinian Territories
. It has an estimated membership of 290,000, and is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation
. The union in its current form is historically aligned with Fatah
, but other parties have also worked within its organization.
The PGFTU traces its modern history to 1965, and its origins to the Palestinian labour movement of the 1920s. Its current general secretary is Shaher Saed, who has held the position for many years. The PGFTU has not held open elections since 1981, for which it has been criticized by outside unionists as well as PGFTU insiders.
A 2007 report in al-Jazeera indicates that the PGFTU receives most of its funding from Saudi Arabia
, Syria
and Egypt
, as well as from organisations such as the Red Cross. Saed argues in the same report that his union has aided more than 250,000 Palestinians with both work and financial support.
General Federation definitively seceded from its parent Jordan
ian body in 1969. A new General Federation of Palestinian Labour Unions was established in 1973, due in large part to the efforts of the Communist Party
, but it was not particularly successful and split into rival factions in 1981. After this period, unions aligned with Fatah
, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
and Communists all claimed the name "General Federation" for themselves. There were also regional divisions, as separate union organizations developed in the West Bank, Gaza
, and around the exiled leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
Ghanem has argued that these rival "General Federations" did not function as effective labour unions during this period, and that internal elections came to an end after 1981. This situation continued into the period of the First Intifada
, and several rival groups were still claiming the name "General Federation" in the period just before the Gulf War
.
A movement toward unity began in 1990, as federations aligned with the Palestinian People's Party (formerly Communists) and Popular Front merged with the Fatah-aligned group. The Democratic Front
joined at the end of 1993. Fatah emerged as the dominant force within the union after the merger.
In September 1990, the West Bank federation reported that 8,500 Palestinians, who were either expelled from the Gulf States
or left because their work contracts were not renewed, had crossed into the West Bank
from Jordan
since Iraq
's invasion of Kuwait
the previous month. (Many Palestinian workers faced discrimination in Gulf countries in this period, after the PLO declared its support for the invasion.) Shaher Saed, described as the federation's General Secretary, complained that the problem of finding employment for these workers was compounded by the growing number of Palestinians who had lost their jobs to recent immigrants from the Soviet Union
to Israel
. He called for economists to develop constructive projects within Palestine, and for Palestinian workers to be allowed to return to the Gulf States. The federation reaffirmed its support for the PLO in the same period. When the Gulf War
began in January 1991, Sa'ad complained that many Palestinian workers were unable to purchase food due to Israeli curfews that prevented them from reaching their workplaces.
in 1993, and sent a public letter condemning violence and terror to Haim Haberfield, secretary-general of the Israeli Histadrut
. In the same letter, Saed also called for Israel to return tax and pension money taken from workers in the occupied territories, which he said amounted to $27 billion. In response, Haberfield indicated that he too supported the peace process and called for an end to regional violence.
The return of the exiled Palestinian leadership to the West Bank and Gaza after the signing of the Oslo Accords brought about a change in the PGFTU's structure. Shaher Saed was confirmed as its General Secretary and led its operations in the West Bank, while Rasem Biyari became its second-in-command and oversaw operations in Gaza. Nina Sovich has argued that the PGFTU was unable to develop an effective internal organization after this period, and was hindered by a rivalry between Saed and Hassan Ibrahim, the general secretary of the General Union of Palestinian Workers.
The PGFTU and Histradrut reached a number of agreements during the Oslo years. In November 1994, the Histadrut agreed to transfer $6–7 million (NIS) to Palestinian unions in Gaza
and the West Bank over two years. In February 1997, the Histadrut and PGFTU signed an agreement to allow Palestinian workers to sue in Israeli courts for income losses caused by closures. Similar arrangements were agreed to on other occasions. In 2000, Nina Sovich wrote an article arguing that the PGFTU had not succeeded in protecting the rights of Palestinian workers in Israel.
The PGFTU organized a protest against an extended Israeli blockade on Gaza in early 1996, arguing that it was unfairly targeting Palestinian workers. When the Israeli borders were closed again in late 1996 following an outbreak of violence, the PGFTU reported that the resulting unemployment had reached 55% in the West Bank and 70% in Gaza.
The PGFTU staged a sit-in at the Ain al-Hilweh
refugee camp in February 2001, after the breakdown of the Oslo process, to promote the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel
. In January of the following year, Saed called on the European Union
to stop importing goods from Israel until its forces withdrew from the Palestinian territories. A subsequent report from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions indicated that the federation's normal union activities were again suspended due to ongoing violence, and that the PGFTU was focusing its efforts on job creation strategies and providing assistance to the poor.
In September 2002, the PGFTU accused the Israeli army of executing four Palestinian workers without provocation outside a Hebron
settlement. The army said the men had intended to attack the settlement. In November 2002, a representative of the PGFTU accused the Israeli government of uprooting thousands of Palestinian-owned olive
trees to make way for its separation wall between Israel and the West Bank, which the federation later estimated could cost 52,000 Palestinian jobs. In 2005, the PGFTU called for the international community to engage in a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
against Israel.
The PGFTU strongly condemned Israel's military actions in Gaza
and Lebanon
in 2006. Two years later, the federation called for an international boycott of celebrations commemorating Israel's sixtieth anniversary.
A division of the Israeli army broke into the PGFTU's Ramallah office on July 4, 2007. Shaher Saed subsequently informed al-Jazeera that he had not been informed of the reasons for the raid, and complained that several filing cabinets and computers had been destroyed. Israeli authorities said that the raid had taken place "in order to protect the citizens of Israel", and denied that equipment was damaged.
Work with the Histadrut
The PGFTU sent a letter to the leader of the Histradrut in April 2007, arguing that both unions "must emphasise our mutual need for peace in our two societies, for the benefit both of workers and because peace will reflect stability". This occurred against the backdrop of improved conditions between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, following a split between the governments of the West Bank and Gaza.
Condemnation of 9/11
The PGFTU condemned the terrorist attacks on New York City
and Washington
on September 11, 2001. Saed described the attacks as an "action against humanity and peace", and gave his "condolences to the American people and their families, the victims of this cowardly and shocking event."
in Gaza in early 2007. Rasem Biyari's Gaza home was hit by a rocket attack in January 2007, and Shahir Saed later told al-Jazeera that Hamas had made three assassination attempts against Biyari during the conflict.
Hamas-aligned militants occupied the PGFTU's Gaza headquarters in July 2007, removed all of the existing slogans and flags, and raised a Hamas flag over the building. According to a statement issued by the PGFTU, the militants then ordered the union's staff to discuss how they were going to operate under Hamas rule. Saed called for Hamas to return the building to PGFTU control, and expressed concern that the conflict could prevent 200,000 workers from receiving health insurance benefits.
Azzam Tamimi of the London
-based Institute of Islamic Political Thought questioned the legitimacy of Sa'ad's remarks in a 2007 interview, describing them as part of a "propaganda war" between Hamas and Fatah. He said, "The PGFTU is a Fatah organisation ... Fatah, in the West Bank, has been destroying offices of Hamas. Now, Fatah is trying to say that Hamas is trying to do exactly the same in Gaza. Which from my sources, seems to be untrue." Saed himself was briefly taken prisoner by militants aligned with Fatah in 2007, and was accused of supporting Hamas. A Fatah politician later said that the incident was a mistake, and that Sa'ad had received an apology. See Palestinian union hit on all sides", al-Jazeera, 14 July 2007, 04:26.
In March 2008, the five-story Gaza headquarters of the PGFTU were destroyed by F-16 missiles in an Israeli air raid.
-- resigned in protest over the lack of democratic elections; (today Ziyada is with the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center
). Bassim Khoury of the Palestinian Authority raised similar concerns over the failure of the PGFTU to represent workers, decades later in 2007.
Since 1993, outside unionists at the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center
(DWRC) have asserted that many Palestinian workers regard the PGFTU as too closely aligned with Fatah and lacking in internal democracy and transparency. In a 2007 press release carried by the Advocacy Project, the DWRC noted that internal elections had not been held in decades. These critiques have been supported by scholars Joost Hiltermann, Nina Sovich and Sos Nissen, who argue that the PGFTU has long been dominated by political factions and has in turn failed to provide effective representation for workers.
Through independent labor activists' and DWRC's efforts, hundreds of independent workers' committees have conjoined into the Independent Workers' Committees Federation since 2004. In 2005 the PGFTU sent a letter to the International Federation of Workers' Education Associations
(IFWEA) charging that DWRC's Gaza head Mohammad Dahman "obtains funds from Norway and the Europeans and was arrested by the [Palestinian] Authority several times because of subversion against the [Palestinian] Authority and its leaders," and furthermore alleging that "the so-called Independent Workers' Committees are coordinating with the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center headed by Mohammed Dahman2[ii] as well as Hamas movement and the Palestinian National Initiative headed by Mustafa Barghouthi." Such charges, which could lead to Dahman's imprisonment, were heavily contested by DWRC.
In 2007 building criticism of the PGTFU culminated in the creation of the Federation of Independent & Democratic Trade Unions & Workers' Committees in Palestine
, representing over 50,000 male and female workers in independent, democratically-elected unions and workers' committees across the West Bank and Gaza. Mohammad Al-Arouri, formerly of the PGFTU, is a main coordinator of the new federation.
National trade union center
A national trade union center is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a single country. Nearly every country in the world has a national trade union center, and many have more than one. When there is more than one national center, it is often because of ideological differences—in some...
in the Palestinian Territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
. It has an estimated membership of 290,000, and is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation
International Trade Union Confederation
The International Trade Union Confederation is the world's largest trade union federation. It was formed on November 1, 2006 out of the merger of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World Confederation of Labour...
. The union in its current form is historically aligned with Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
, but other parties have also worked within its organization.
The PGFTU traces its modern history to 1965, and its origins to the Palestinian labour movement of the 1920s. Its current general secretary is Shaher Saed, who has held the position for many years. The PGFTU has not held open elections since 1981, for which it has been criticized by outside unionists as well as PGFTU insiders.
A 2007 report in al-Jazeera indicates that the PGFTU receives most of its funding from Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, as well as from organisations such as the Red Cross. Saed argues in the same report that his union has aided more than 250,000 Palestinians with both work and financial support.
Early years and the First Intifada
The early years of the PGFTU were marked by fragmentation and political division. As'ad Ghanem has written that the West BankWest Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
General Federation definitively seceded from its parent Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian body in 1969. A new General Federation of Palestinian Labour Unions was established in 1973, due in large part to the efforts of the Communist Party
Jordanian Communist Party
The Jordanian Communist Party is a communist political party in Jordan, founded in 1948. Its current general secretary is Dr. Munir Hamarana...
, but it was not particularly successful and split into rival factions in 1981. After this period, unions aligned with Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist, secular political and military organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dimuqratiyah...
and Communists all claimed the name "General Federation" for themselves. There were also regional divisions, as separate union organizations developed in the West Bank, Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
, and around the exiled leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
Ghanem has argued that these rival "General Federations" did not function as effective labour unions during this period, and that internal elections came to an end after 1981. This situation continued into the period of the First Intifada
First Intifada
The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
, and several rival groups were still claiming the name "General Federation" in the period just before the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
.
A movement toward unity began in 1990, as federations aligned with the Palestinian People's Party (formerly Communists) and Popular Front merged with the Fatah-aligned group. The Democratic Front
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist, secular political and military organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dimuqratiyah...
joined at the end of 1993. Fatah emerged as the dominant force within the union after the merger.
In September 1990, the West Bank federation reported that 8,500 Palestinians, who were either expelled from the Gulf States
Arab states of the Persian Gulf
"Arab states of the Persian Gulf" or "Arab Persian Gulf states" or "Persian Gulf Arab states" or "Arabic Persian Gulf states" or "Arab States of The Gulf", are terms that refer to the six Arab states of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, bordering the Persian Gulf....
or left because their work contracts were not renewed, had crossed into the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
from Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
since Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
's invasion of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
the previous month. (Many Palestinian workers faced discrimination in Gulf countries in this period, after the PLO declared its support for the invasion.) Shaher Saed, described as the federation's General Secretary, complained that the problem of finding employment for these workers was compounded by the growing number of Palestinians who had lost their jobs to recent immigrants from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He called for economists to develop constructive projects within Palestine, and for Palestinian workers to be allowed to return to the Gulf States. The federation reaffirmed its support for the PLO in the same period. When the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
began in January 1991, Sa'ad complained that many Palestinian workers were unable to purchase food due to Israeli curfews that prevented them from reaching their workplaces.
Oslo process
Saed endorsed the Oslo Peace ProcessOslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
in 1993, and sent a public letter condemning violence and terror to Haim Haberfield, secretary-general of the Israeli Histadrut
Histadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...
. In the same letter, Saed also called for Israel to return tax and pension money taken from workers in the occupied territories, which he said amounted to $27 billion. In response, Haberfield indicated that he too supported the peace process and called for an end to regional violence.
The return of the exiled Palestinian leadership to the West Bank and Gaza after the signing of the Oslo Accords brought about a change in the PGFTU's structure. Shaher Saed was confirmed as its General Secretary and led its operations in the West Bank, while Rasem Biyari became its second-in-command and oversaw operations in Gaza. Nina Sovich has argued that the PGFTU was unable to develop an effective internal organization after this period, and was hindered by a rivalry between Saed and Hassan Ibrahim, the general secretary of the General Union of Palestinian Workers.
The PGFTU and Histradrut reached a number of agreements during the Oslo years. In November 1994, the Histadrut agreed to transfer $6–7 million (NIS) to Palestinian unions in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
and the West Bank over two years. In February 1997, the Histadrut and PGFTU signed an agreement to allow Palestinian workers to sue in Israeli courts for income losses caused by closures. Similar arrangements were agreed to on other occasions. In 2000, Nina Sovich wrote an article arguing that the PGFTU had not succeeded in protecting the rights of Palestinian workers in Israel.
The PGFTU organized a protest against an extended Israeli blockade on Gaza in early 1996, arguing that it was unfairly targeting Palestinian workers. When the Israeli borders were closed again in late 1996 following an outbreak of violence, the PGFTU reported that the resulting unemployment had reached 55% in the West Bank and 70% in Gaza.
Post-Oslo
Conflict with IsraelThe PGFTU staged a sit-in at the Ain al-Hilweh
Ain al-Hilweh
Ain al-Hilweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon with over 70,000 refugees, located on the outskirts of the port of Sidon. Because Lebanese Armed Forces are not allowed to enter the camp Ain al-Hilweh has been called a "zone of unlaw" by the Lebanese media...
refugee camp in February 2001, after the breakdown of the Oslo process, to promote the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel
Palestinian right of return
The Palestinian right of return is a political position or principle asserting that Palestinian refugees, both first-generation refugees and their descendants, have a right to return, and a right to the property they or their forebears left or which they were forced to leave in what is now Israel...
. In January of the following year, Saed called on the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
to stop importing goods from Israel until its forces withdrew from the Palestinian territories. A subsequent report from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions indicated that the federation's normal union activities were again suspended due to ongoing violence, and that the PGFTU was focusing its efforts on job creation strategies and providing assistance to the poor.
In September 2002, the PGFTU accused the Israeli army of executing four Palestinian workers without provocation outside a Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
settlement. The army said the men had intended to attack the settlement. In November 2002, a representative of the PGFTU accused the Israeli government of uprooting thousands of Palestinian-owned olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
trees to make way for its separation wall between Israel and the West Bank, which the federation later estimated could cost 52,000 Palestinian jobs. In 2005, the PGFTU called for the international community to engage in a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions refers to a campaign first initiated on 9 July 2005 by 171 Palestinian non-governmental organizations in support of the Palestinian cause ".....
against Israel.
The PGFTU strongly condemned Israel's military actions in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
in 2006. Two years later, the federation called for an international boycott of celebrations commemorating Israel's sixtieth anniversary.
A division of the Israeli army broke into the PGFTU's Ramallah office on July 4, 2007. Shaher Saed subsequently informed al-Jazeera that he had not been informed of the reasons for the raid, and complained that several filing cabinets and computers had been destroyed. Israeli authorities said that the raid had taken place "in order to protect the citizens of Israel", and denied that equipment was damaged.
Work with the Histadrut
The PGFTU sent a letter to the leader of the Histradrut in April 2007, arguing that both unions "must emphasise our mutual need for peace in our two societies, for the benefit both of workers and because peace will reflect stability". This occurred against the backdrop of improved conditions between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, following a split between the governments of the West Bank and Gaza.
Condemnation of 9/11
The PGFTU condemned the terrorist attacks on New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
on September 11, 2001. Saed described the attacks as an "action against humanity and peace", and gave his "condolences to the American people and their families, the victims of this cowardly and shocking event."
Conflict with Hamas
The PFGTU became a target in the conflict between Fatah and HamasHamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
in Gaza in early 2007. Rasem Biyari's Gaza home was hit by a rocket attack in January 2007, and Shahir Saed later told al-Jazeera that Hamas had made three assassination attempts against Biyari during the conflict.
Hamas-aligned militants occupied the PGFTU's Gaza headquarters in July 2007, removed all of the existing slogans and flags, and raised a Hamas flag over the building. According to a statement issued by the PGFTU, the militants then ordered the union's staff to discuss how they were going to operate under Hamas rule. Saed called for Hamas to return the building to PGFTU control, and expressed concern that the conflict could prevent 200,000 workers from receiving health insurance benefits.
Azzam Tamimi of the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based Institute of Islamic Political Thought questioned the legitimacy of Sa'ad's remarks in a 2007 interview, describing them as part of a "propaganda war" between Hamas and Fatah. He said, "The PGFTU is a Fatah organisation ... Fatah, in the West Bank, has been destroying offices of Hamas. Now, Fatah is trying to say that Hamas is trying to do exactly the same in Gaza. Which from my sources, seems to be untrue." Saed himself was briefly taken prisoner by militants aligned with Fatah in 2007, and was accused of supporting Hamas. A Fatah politician later said that the incident was a mistake, and that Sa'ad had received an apology. See Palestinian union hit on all sides", al-Jazeera, 14 July 2007, 04:26.
In March 2008, the five-story Gaza headquarters of the PGFTU were destroyed by F-16 missiles in an Israeli air raid.
Criticism
The PGFTU has been heavily criticized by insiders such as Muhammad Al-Arouri, former head of the PGFTU legislative unit until his dismissal in 2005. The head of the GFTU in 1982, Mahmud Ziyada—a friend of Al-Arouri and a unionist imprisoned for a total of four years during the Israeli crackdown on trade unions around the time of the First IntifadaFirst Intifada
The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
-- resigned in protest over the lack of democratic elections; (today Ziyada is with the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center
Democracy and Workers' Rights Center
The Democracy and Workers' Rights Center is a Palestinian non-governmental, non-profit organization, not affiliated with any political party. DWRC was established in 1993 by a group of trade unionists, lawyers, academics and political figures in Palestinian society to defend workers’ rights and...
). Bassim Khoury of the Palestinian Authority raised similar concerns over the failure of the PGFTU to represent workers, decades later in 2007.
Since 1993, outside unionists at the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center
Democracy and Workers' Rights Center
The Democracy and Workers' Rights Center is a Palestinian non-governmental, non-profit organization, not affiliated with any political party. DWRC was established in 1993 by a group of trade unionists, lawyers, academics and political figures in Palestinian society to defend workers’ rights and...
(DWRC) have asserted that many Palestinian workers regard the PGFTU as too closely aligned with Fatah and lacking in internal democracy and transparency. In a 2007 press release carried by the Advocacy Project, the DWRC noted that internal elections had not been held in decades. These critiques have been supported by scholars Joost Hiltermann, Nina Sovich and Sos Nissen, who argue that the PGFTU has long been dominated by political factions and has in turn failed to provide effective representation for workers.
Through independent labor activists' and DWRC's efforts, hundreds of independent workers' committees have conjoined into the Independent Workers' Committees Federation since 2004. In 2005 the PGFTU sent a letter to the International Federation of Workers' Education Associations
Workers' Educational Association
The Workers’ Educational Association seeks to provide access to education and lifelong learning for adults from all backgrounds, and in particular those who have previously missed out on education. The International Federation of Workers Education Associations has consultative status to UNESCO...
(IFWEA) charging that DWRC's Gaza head Mohammad Dahman "obtains funds from Norway and the Europeans and was arrested by the [Palestinian] Authority several times because of subversion against the [Palestinian] Authority and its leaders," and furthermore alleging that "the so-called Independent Workers' Committees are coordinating with the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center headed by Mohammed Dahman2[ii] as well as Hamas movement and the Palestinian National Initiative headed by Mustafa Barghouthi." Such charges, which could lead to Dahman's imprisonment, were heavily contested by DWRC.
In 2007 building criticism of the PGTFU culminated in the creation of the Federation of Independent & Democratic Trade Unions & Workers' Committees in Palestine
Federation of Independent & Democratic Trade Unions & Workers' Committees in Palestine
The Federation of Independent & Democratic Trade Unions & Workers' Committees in Palestine, representing 50,000 workers, was established in reaction to a lack of democracy within traditional Palestinian trade union federations...
, representing over 50,000 male and female workers in independent, democratically-elected unions and workers' committees across the West Bank and Gaza. Mohammad Al-Arouri, formerly of the PGFTU, is a main coordinator of the new federation.
External links
- PGFTU official site.
- Advocacy Project
- US Department of Labor