Koah LaOvdim (Hebrew: כוח לעובדים, lit. 'Power to the Workers') is an Israeli labor union organization founded in 2007 (and registered in 2008) as an initiative by a group of social and labor activists to create a new, active and militant general labor union in Israel.[1] The organization was established as a result of several failed labor struggles and unionization attempts in Israel in the preceding years, primarily that of the temporary labourers in the Ben Gurion International Airport in 2006.[2]
Koah LaOvdim – Democratic Workers’ Organization | |
כוח לעובדים | |
 | |
| Founded | 2007 |
|---|---|
Members | 18,000 (2020) |
| Website | workers |
In the years since its establishment, Koah LaOvdim have increased its numbers substantially and by 2017 it became Israel's third largest labor union with around 35,000 workers represented by the organization.[3] The organization's establishment is often credited with initiating the "unionization boom" of the late 2000s in Israel.[3]
The union's political position is on the left, with their stated aims being:
- To assist unorganized workers in getting organized in their workplace both in the public and the private sector.
- To promote the existence of organized labor in the Israeli economy.
- To wage an uncompromising struggle in the defense of workers’ rights and the improvement of their pay and working conditions.
- To work for the establishment of social and economic justice, a welfare state and industrial democracy.[1]
Koah LaOvdim is a multi-national, trans-ethnic and cross-sectional organization, unionizing workers from all sectors of Israeli society, with equality and solidarity between Jews and Arabs being one of the organization's core beliefs,[4] and the organization have worked against racist incidents against Arab workers in Israel.[5] Koah LaOvdim is also a proponent of feminism and gender equality in the workforce, and it maintains a feminist section "Koah LaOvdot".[6]
References
edit- ^ a b "כוח לעובדים » English". Koah LaOvdim. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
- ^ גולדשטיין, תני (2009-05-02). "לא על ההסתדרות לבדה: הכירו את כוח לעובדים" [Not just about the Histadrut alone: get to know the Koah LaOvdim]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-06-06.
- ^ a b "עובדי ישראל מתאגדים בהמוניהם? הנתונים מספרים סיפור אחר". TheMarker (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-06-06.
- ^ "כוח לעובדים - ארגון עובדים דמוקרטי" [Koah LaOvdim - a democratic workers' organization]. KolZchut (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-06-06.
- ^ "העלון הגזעני של ארגון להב"ה נגד "אגד": "לא טוב שההגה בידיים של מוחמד"" [The racist leaflet of the Lehava organization against Egged: "It is not good that the idea is in the hands of Muhammad"]. Nana 10 (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-06-06.
- ^ "יוזמה חדשה: מודל של הסכם שכר קיבוצי לקידום שוויון מגדרי" [A new initiative: a model of a collective wage agreement to promote gender equality]. TheMarker (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-06-06.