Appeal
for Solidarity with Palestinian Municipal Workers
The
following is reproduced from the
Labourstart site
Palestinian Minister of Local Governments recognizes the right of
Jericho municipal employees to have their union; Two weeks later Mayor
of Jericho still fails to abide
The Mayor of Jericho has still not abided by the decision of the
Palestinian Minister of Local Governments issued on 15/08/2004 which
allows Jericho municipal employees to establish their union and requests
the municipality to lift unjustified sanctions taken against members of
the union’s establishing committee.
When Jericho municipal workers decided to exercise their fundamental
right to establish a union in order to defend their rights and
interests, they knew that this would not be an easy task in view of the
negative stand generally taken by Palestinian employers towards union
organizing, both in the public and private sectors, and the absence of a
national trade union law guaranteeing workers’ freedom of association
and union rights. However, they certainly did not anticipate the fact
that the Mayor of Jericho municipality would use all his weight and
authority to thwart their lawful effort.
Since the beginning of 2004, the Democracy
and Workers’ Rights Center in Palestine has been organizing a
series of awareness meetings for municipal workers in the West Bank
regarding their rights at work. Following the meeting held in Jericho, a
number of workers and employees of Jericho municipality constituted an
establishing committee for their union in June 2004. Almost immediately,
the Mayor of Jericho Municipality imposed unjustified sanctions against
5 members of the union’s establishing committee, as follows:
- 2 employees were forced to take a 10 day holiday
- 2 employees were issued a warning combined with salary deduction, and
1 of them was suspended from work for a week
On 12 July 2004, the union’s establishing committee addressed a letter
to the municipality’s legal adviser demanding the cancellation of these
sanctions and raising a number of demands on behalf of the employees,
including the right to conduct trade union activities inside the
municipality. Their letter revealed an appalling situation as regards
the labor rights of employees, and failure by the municipality to abide
by the laws and regulations guaranteeing municipal workers’ rights. Some
of the violations denounced were: systematic deduction of 2 days of
salary for 1 day of absence; sick leave is deducted from annual
holidays; more than one sanction is issued for the same fault and
sanctions are not adequate to the fault nor gradual; since the beginning
of the Intifada, payment of overtime work has been replaced by
additional holidays, etc.
The legal advisor of the municipality declined several times to meet
with the committee’s members. The municipality confronted the employees
with a letter from a general director at the Ministry of Local
Governments dated 14 July 2004 announcing that it was illegal for
Jericho municipal employees to establish a union. Moreover, the
sanctions were not lifted but expanded as one of the employees forced to
take a 10 day holiday was arbitrarily dismissed under the slanderous and
unsupported accusation of attempting to cause “disorder” in Jericho
city, and another employee was also dismissed for union activities.
In view of the position taken by the municipality, the members of the
establishing committee brought the case before the Minister of Local
Governments. The Democracy and Workers’ Rights Center also informed the
Ministry. On 15/08/2004, the Minister of Local Governments, Mr. Jamal
Al-Shobaki, rendered the following decision addressed to Mr. Abdel Karim
Sader, Mayor of Jericho municipality:
"By virtue of the authority conferred to me in my capacity as Minister
of Local Governments, and after studying the various aspects related to
the issue of the establishment of their union by the employees and
workers of Jericho municipality, as well as the measures, i.e.
sanctions, taken by the municipality against a number of employees, I
decide the following:
1. To allow employees and workers of the municipality to establish their
own union under the name of “Committee for the Employees and Workers of
Jericho Municipality”, akin to the committees established with the same
goals in other municipalities.
2. To cancel all sanctions taken by the municipality against the
following employees:
1- Raed Dweikat
2- Ahmed Barakat
3- Mohammed Al-’Amla
4- Wisam Al-Shweiki
5- Khaled Jaber
The necessity to respect the laws and regulations in force, especially
the articles related to sanctions, which must be gradual and non
duplicated, holidays, etc"
This official recognition of the right to organize for municipal workers
is a very positive step. However, Jericho municipal employees still wait
for its implementation in their municipality, as the Mayor of Jericho
has failed to this day to abide by the Minister’s decision.
Express your
solidarity
You can help Jericho municipal workers in their struggle for their right
to organize by sending letters to the Mayor of Jericho, Mr. Abdel Karim
Sader, at fax: + 972 2 2322604 demanding of him to implement the
Palestinian Minister of Local Governments decision dated 15/08/2004, and
therefore lift sanctions taken against 5 employees of the municipality
and respect the employees’ right to freedom of association and
organizing.
Or e-mail:
info@jericho-city.org
Please send a copy of all your letters to DWRC at fax +972 2 295 2608
or e-mail:
info@dwrc.org
Please copy in:
solidarity@btinternet.com
September 2004