MENA - Marokkaanse vakbonden wijzen wet af die het stakingsrecht beperkt

Moroccan unions reject strike-restricting law

25 July, 2019

Trade unions in Morocco have launched a campaign against a draft law that violates the constitutional right to strike in the country.

Unions are demanding the proposed legislation, which limits the right to strike, is withdrawn for adoption by the Moroccan parliament.

The draft regulatory law No. 15.97 was written without consultation or negotiation with trade unions, contravening fundamental International Labour Organization Conventions 87 and 98.

The right to strike is upheld in chapter 29 of the Moroccan constitution, but now the government is trying to restrict the conditions for striking in law for the first time.

Moroccan unions say the bill would turn a universal human right into an instrument of oppression, directed primarily at protestors and trade unionists. Unions are collecting signatures against the bill, and plan to mobilize.

The legislation is part of a growing attack on trade union rights and freedoms in the country. Trade unions have mounted numerous demonstrations, strikes and marches in protest at the widespread violations against trade unions and trade union leaders, which go unpunished by the government.

IndustriALL general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“IndustriALL Global Union urges the Government of Morocco to withdraw the draft law on the right to strike, which was written and submitted unilaterally to Parliament for adoption, and has not been the subject of tripartite discussions with partners.”

Unions are demanding that fundamental rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining are respected and that the Moroccan government commits to tripartite social dialogue.

http://www.industriall-union.org/moroccan-unions-reject-strike-restricting-law?

Solidariteit: Tien jaar vakbondsstrijd in de door Israël bezette gebieden op de West Bank

Tien jaar vakbondsstrijd in de door Israël bezette gebieden op de West Bank Obstakels en successen WAC-MAAN     Het onafhankelijke vakbondscentrum WAC-MAAN heeft een uitvoerig verslag uitgebracht over tien jaar strijd en organisatie door Palestijnse arbeiders  werkzaam op de Israëlische nederzettingen in de Westelijke Jordaanoever; in  het bijzonder de industriële zone Mishor Adumim ten oosten van Jeruzalem.  Hier een samenvatting. 1 Het verslag geeft een overzicht van de vakbondsactiviteiten van WAC-MAAN in de periode 2007-2018. Het is 13 juni 2019 gepresenteerd tijdens een conferentie in het Confederation House in Jeruzalem. Aanwezig waren tientallen arbeiders die het baanbrekende vakbondswerk leidden in onder meer de Zarfati Garage (busbedrijf), N.A. Metal Industries en een wasserij in Jeruzalem. 2 Tot de deelnemers aan het forumdebat behoorden de directeur van WAC-Maan en schrijver van het verslag Assaf Adiv, de advocaat van de bond en een vertegenwoordiger van Btselem, de NGO voor mensenrechten van Palestijnen in de bezette gebieden.      Rechteloze arbeid Ongeveer 30.000 Palestijnen werken in de nederzettingen en de nabijgelegen industriële zones. Zij doen dat onder uitbuitende arbeidsvoorwaarden in de industrie, landbouw, dienstverlening en handel. Hun baan is afhankelijk van een werkvergunning en kent vaak geen loonstrook, ongevallenverzekering, pensioenvoorzieningen en ziekte-uitkering. Het loon ligt onder het minimum en een werkzekerheid ontbreekt. In deze situatie zijn geen veranderingen van belang gekomen, ondanks de uitspraak van het Hoog Gerechtshof van 2007 die bepaalde dat Palestijnen in dienst van Israëlische ondernemers onder de arbeidswetgeving van Israël vallen en daartoe behorende rechten. De meeste ondernemers in de bezette gebieden negeren deze bepaling, Het hoge werkloosheidspercentage in de gebieden van de Palestijnse Autoriteit [Staat Palestina] en de lage lonen die Palestijnse ondernemers betalen, dwingen Palestijnen alles te doen om aan werk te komen, zelfs als dat de aanvaarding betekent van de zware arbeidsomstandigheden. Recht op organisatie Het verslag bestaat uit drie delen. Het eerste bespreekt de geschiedenis van de bezette industriële zones, de resultaten van de Oslo Akkoorden van 1993, de economische omstandigheden in de gebieden van de Palestijnse Autoriteit en de loonverschillen met de Israëlische arbeidsmarkt. Het tweede deel gaat over de genoemde bepaling van het Hoog Gerechtshof (2007) en de invloed ervan in de praktijk. Het derde beschrijft de inspanningen van WAC-MAAN om de Palestijnse arbeiders in de zones te organiseren, zowel de succesvolle als de mislukte. Van de Salit steengroeven in 2009 tot de collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst bij de Zarfati Garage na vier jaar strijd. (Ter zijde, niet opgenomen in het verslag: de twee recente initiatieven tot collectieve onderhandelingen met nieuwe ondernemers in de zone Mishor Adumim.) In het verslag komt duidelijk naar voren hoe uniek het basiswerk van WAC-MAAN al jaren is. Het feit – sinds 1967 – dat de Israëlische bezetting van de betrokken gebieden in strijd is met internationale wetgeving, lost echter de vraag niet op hoe de exploitatie en schending van de rechten van duizenden arbeiders zijn te voorkomen. Benadrukt dient te worden dat de totale controle door Israël over de bezette gebieden het Palestijnse vakbonden en organisaties fysiek en wettelijk onmogelijk maakt arbeidersbelangen te behartigen. En dat terwijl de Israëlische vakbonden geen enkele belangstelling tonen om de Palestijnen die in deze gebieden leven, in vakbonden te organiseren. De beslissing om de Palestijnse arbeiders in de bezette gebieden te organiseren, toont de sterke oriëntatie van WAC-MAAN op een democratische 'agenda' van gelijkheid en de strijd tegen de Israëlische bezetting. WAC-MAAN is ervan overtuigd dat Palestijnse arbeiders, geconfronteerd met discriminatie en uitbuiting, in alle opzichten aanspraak kunnen maken op mensen- en arbeidsrechten – ongeacht de politieke schikkingen over het Israëlisch/Palestijns conflict, ongeacht de toekomst van de bezette gebieden. 1 Gepubliceerd juni 2019 met als titel WAC-MAAN – a decade of organizing Palestinian workers in the  West Bank Settlements, a summary – www.wac-maan.org.il – volledig rapport, geschreven door Assaf Adiv:  eng.wac-maan.org.il - uploads/2019/06/MAANENG-maan-final-version.pdf – vertaling: Hans Boot. (terug) 2 Zie: Politie in Israël houdt Palestijnse arbeiders eronder, Solidariteit 259 extra, 21 september 2014,  Elementair strijdbaar vakbondswerk extra 333-3, 9 juli 2017 en Nederlandse bonden ontbreken vooralsnog ingezonden, 4 augustus 2019. (terug) https://www.solidariteit.nl/extra/2019/obstakels_en_successen.html

ILO 2019: The situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories

De Internationale Arbeidsconferentie die dit jaar het 100-jarig bestaan van de ILO vierde, is afgesloten met een nieuwe verklaring over de ‘Toekomst van Werk’. Daarin hebben werknemers, werkgevers en regeringen, samen hun afspraken vastgelegd over fatsoenlijk werk in onze wereldeconomie.....  

https://www.fnv.nl/nieuwsbericht/algemeen-nieuws/2019/06/ilo-verklaring-over-de-toekomst-van-werk 

Een onderdeel
..... Meer paramilitair geweld in Colombia
De leiders van de vakbonden CUT en CTC uit Colombia uitten hun extreme zorg over het mislukken van het vredesproces in Colombia. Daardoor laait paramilitair geweld weer op. Ook nemen intimidatie van en geweld tegen leiders van maatschappelijke organisaties toe. Vakbondsleiders worden weer in toenemende mate vermoord. Met name in de plattelandsgebieden, het gaat dan om vakbondsleiders in de land- en tuinbouw en het onderwijs. .......

Met hierbij het jaarlijkse

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL APPENDIX 
The situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories 

https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_705016.pdf?

ElectronicIntifada: Israel moedigt doodsbedreigingen tegen mensenrechten-verdedigers aan.

Ook in Nederland, zie hierna.

Israel incites death threats against human rights defenders

Ali Abunimah Rights and Accountability 1 August 2019
 


Al-Haq director Shawan Jabarin, left, receives the Human Rights Prize of the French Republic, along with B’Tselem director Haggai El-Ad, center, December 2018. (via Twitter)

Israeli government propaganda is inciting violent threats against human rights defenders.

On the Facebook page for the 4IL website visitors left comments calling for the killing of Shawan Jabarin, director of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq.

These included: “When do we put a bullet in the head?”, “Why do such people still breathe?” and “Why has he not been liquidated?”

4IL is a propaganda outlet of Israel’s strategic affairs ministry.

The ministry, headed by Gilad Erdan, leads Israel’s campaign of smear and sabotage against human rights groups and the global Palestine solidarity movement.

Al-Haq calls these comments “incitement and hate speech.”

The human rights group says the spasm of death threats came after 4IL published an article accusing Jabarin, a human rights defender who has won international recognition and awards, of “terrorism.”

The Israeli government published the article smearing Al-Haq after the organization held an event celebrating its 40th anniversary attended by academics, diplomats and officials, including from the UN and European Union.

“The attack is the latest in a large-scale campaign against Palestinian and other civil society organizations working to promote and protect the rule of law and human rights standards for the Palestinian people,” according to Al-Haq.

The international human rights network FIDH issued an alert last week condemning the smear campaign and death threats against Jabarin and calling on Israel “to immediately end any acts of harassment against him, Al-Haq and all the human rights defenders.”

Al-Haq has been a particular target of Israel because of the role it plays in compiling evidence of Israeli human rights crimes for the International Criminal Court.

Authorities in the Netherlands, where the court is based, have been investigating death threats targeting a lawyer working with Al-Haq.

The campaign of harassment against the lawyer is possibly the work of Israel’s strategic affairs ministry, according to a veteran Israeli reporter on intelligence.

A key goal of the smear campaign is to force governments to end their funding for human rights groups by associating them with “terrorism.”

Last month the EU said it was “aware of allegations” against Al-Haq but that screening of the organization’s representatives against UN and EU sanctions lists had not revealed any concerns.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International demanded that Israeli authorities “urgently investigate death threats targeting three civil society organizations, including Amnesty International’s Israeli section in Tel Aviv.”

The group said that anonymous death threats were sprayed outside the offices of Amnesty International Israel and ASSAF, an organization working with refugees and asylum-seekers.

Amnesty Israel posted on Facebook a photo of the Hebrew graffiti outside its office.

It states, the “wicked person will die for their sin” – a quote from the Bible.

A box containing death threats and a dead mouse was also left at the entrance to the Elifelet Children’s Activity Center for refugees.

Amnesty noted that in recent years, “the climate for human rights defenders in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has rapidly deteriorated.”

“Israeli authorities have taken steps to unduly restrict the rights to freedom of expression and association inside Israel, with officials intimidating human rights defenders critical of the government and introducing legislation to silence dissent,” Amnesty added.

Like Al-Haq, Amnesty has been a target of official harassment and retaliation for documenting Israeli abuses.

Further>
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-incites-death-threats-against-human-rights-defenders?

WAC-MAAN – A decade of organising Palestinian workers in the West Bank settlements

15 June 2019, Workers Advice Centre (WAC-MAAN)

The independent trade union center WAC-MAAN releases a comprehensive 
report summarising ten years of struggle to organise Palestinian workers in 
Israeli settlementsin the occupied West Bank

The report released today by WAC-MAAN overviews ten years of trade union 
activities with Palestinian workers in Israeli settlements, particularly the Mishor 
Adumim area east of Jerusalem. The report was presented on 13 June 2019 
during the WAC-MAAN conference at Confederation House in Jerusalem. 
Among the participants were dozens of workers who led the groundbreaking 
unionizing drives at Zarfati Garage, NA Metal Industries and Laundry Geula, 
and a panel of speakers that included WAC-MAAN’s director Assaf Adiv who 
wrote the report, Advocate Khaled Douchi from Kav Laoved (Workers Hotline), 
Mr Abd Al Karim Saadi from B’Tselem, and researcher Ethan Morton Jerome.

Further>

https://auspalestine.org/2019/07/11/wac-maan-a-decade-of-organising-report/

Public Services unions from across Europe call on European governments to suspend arms trade with Israel

Delegates at the European Public Service Union (EPSU) congress in Dublin on 5 June discussed the current situation in Palestine and the role of trade unions in peace building.

The overwhelming majority of trade unions present voted in favor of a resolution calling for an independent Palestinian state that provides quality public service to its citizens. The resolution emphasises that the occupation has denied any prospects of a viable Palestinian economy and has contributed to one of the world’s highest unemployment rates. The EPSU resolution also highlights the damaging impact of recent actions by the Trump administration, including the decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

As a result of the resolution EPSU will explore with the ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) how to effectively campaign for the implementation of human rights clauses in EU trade and association agreements. The resolution also calls on European governments to suspend arms trade with Israel and for the EU to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement because of repeated breach of its human rights provisions.

Finally the resolution notes the establishment of the European Trade Union Network for Justice in Palestine (ETUN) and calls on EPSU to inform its affiliates about the work of the network.

ETUN welcomes this resolution, which demonstrates the support of European public service unions to the rights of the Palestinian people, and commits EPSU to work on this crucial issue.

During the Congress, ETUN held a fringe meeting “Building Solidarity with Palestinian workers” at which our representatives from Ireland, Norway, UK and Belgium explained how the occupation of Palestine is undermining public services and decent work, and how European public service unions are working in solidarity with Palestinian unions and workers to improve the situation.

The meeting also discussed ETUN’s campaigns and our new report, that will be launched this autumn, which highlights the link between decent work and European complicity to the occupation.

ETUN will continue its work in support of Palestinian workers and trade unions, and focus on European and corporate complicity. We call on European trade unions to join us and help build a stronger network to campaign for an end to the occupation and for Palestinian workers’ rights.

http://www.etun-palestine.org/site/2019/07/03/public-services-unions-from-across-europe-call-on-european-governments-to-suspend-arms-trade-with-israel/

MENASource: Israel’s Problematic Role in Perpetuating Water Insecurity for Palestine, ZENA AGHA

Climate change poses an existential and global threat to humanity. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is expected to be impacted more than any other area. At the regional level, the predicted consequences of climate change are an accelerated rise in sea level, a significant increase in average temperatures, and changes in precipitation patterns. Some MENA states are better prepared than others to mitigate and adapt to these climate risks. States like Israel are well-equipped with technologies to deal with climate change, while the territories it occupies—namely Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights—are deprived of both their resources and the technologies necessary to protect them.

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Not only are the OPT directly threatened by climate change, but the Israeli occupation prevents the Territories from adapting to it.

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Further see
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/israel-s-problematic-role-in-perpetuating-water-insecurity-for-palestine