WAC (Workers Advice Center)
Nazareth POB 2647 Ph 04-6462156 Fax 04-6462152
E mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] / www.odaction.org/wac
Press Release, May 20, 2001
Israel�s Registrar of NPA's (Non-Profit Associations) renews his
witchhunt against WAC
WAC staunchly defends the rights of thousands of workers, especially
Arabs, who have no other union representation. The effectiveness of
WAC�s activities has not found favor with the Registrar of NPAs: he has
decided to limit WAC's ability to form a professional trade
organization. This is his second interference. In the year 2000, he
refused to register WAC as an NPA, but the District Court in Jerusalem
overruled him. Now, a year later, he is at it again. WAC will not let
its rights be violated. WAC seeks local and international support for
its right to freedom of union organizing.
On May 17, 2001, WAC (Workers Advice Center � Ma'an in Arabic) received
a letter from the Registrar of NPAs (Non-Profit Associations)
threatening to open procedures against it. In this letter (signed by
Attorney R. Goldstein, the Registrar's Legal Advisor), the Registrar
states that after checking WAC�s activities, he may appoint a person to
investigate WAC. Article Two of the letter states: "Apparently the NPA
is not fulfilling the aims for which it was established. Its members are
connected to the political party Da'am, and they use the NPA, in effect,
as a means for carrying out their political agenda." Article Three,
moreover, states that WAC has not submitted to the Registrar the
documents and financial reports that the law requires.
There is no ground for either of these accusations. First, WAC has
submitted the official reports in accordance with the law � and by
registered mail. WAC�s activity is under the supervision of an
accountant. WAC paid its dues to the Registrar's office at the
designated times. The Registrar writes about having checked WAC�s
activities, but WAC�s official reports, it would seem, remain unopened.
This is the Registrar's second attempt to block WAC�s work. A year ago,
he refused to register WAC as an NPA, but on May 23, 2000 a District
Court Judge in Jerusalem, M. Naor, overruled him. Since then, WAC has
carried out wide-ranging activities in the defense of workers,
especially � but not only � Arabs. WAC employs three attorneys who
appear regularly on its behalf in the Labor Courts of Haifa, Nazareth,
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. At WAC�s offices in Jaffa, Nazareth and Majd
al-Krum, it handles hundreds of claims, defending workers' rights
against employers who seek to circumvent the law, as well as against
willful and arbitrary actions by governmental bodies, namely the
National Insurance Institute and the Employment Service.
Here are two recent examples of WAC's work:
1. In May 2001 (this month) the building contractor, Aronson & Co.,
needed construction workers for a project in Migdal Ha-Emek. The company
invited skilled Arab laborers from Nazareth to a day of orientation,
during which it described the work as dangerous and unattractive: 12
hours daily with low pay. WAC has encountered this tactic before: The
law requires a contractor to offer jobs first to local residents; if
they refuse, he is then entitled to hire foreign workers, who cost much
less; the Employment Bureau then labels the locals "refusers," and they
lose their eligibility for unemployment benefits. Knowing this tactic,
WAC advised the Nazareth workers first to accept the jobs: the fight for
proper conditions would come afterwards. Most signed a paper accepting.
WAC brought two dozen to the job site the next day, where the workers
were told that they were not wanted. On turning to the Employment
Bureau, they learned that they had already been listed as refusers. WAC
then organized a demonstration of these "refusers" opposite the site.
The protest action had immediate impact. On May 9, 2001 the Employment
Bureau "de-refused" them and Aronson signed an agreement accepting them
on the job. (We shall supply a more detailed account upon request.)
2. In the summer of the year 2000, WAC began taking up the cases of
jobless Palestinians in East Jerusalem. When the Intifada began in
October, the government closed the Employment Bureau there. It then
refused to pay the benefits of 1500 workers, claiming they were not
registering properly. WAC took the cases of several dozen to the Labor
Court, began an extensive correspondence with the Employment Service,
and opened a press campaign. As a result, the Employment Service backed
down and paid the benefits due. (We shall supply a copy of the
correspondence upon request.)
WAC is an independent body operating in accordance with the rules
pertaining to NPAs. Several of its most active members do belong,
indeed, to the political party Da'am (the Organization for Democratic
Action � or ODA in English). This fact in no way affects their right
take part in WAC. Da'am is a recognized party, registered in Israel. It
is no less legitimate than Am Ekhad ("One People"), the political party
established by the Histadrut. If workers were to complain, as they
often have concerning the Histadrut, that WAC neglected them on
political or religious grounds, then there might be justice in the
Registrar's charges. Has he heard such complaints? Is he criticizing
WAC's work in order to uphold the rights of the public?
The charges by the Registrar come from a different direction altogether.
He sees a trade union association deeply committed to the rights of the
most oppressed workers and operating beyond the control of the
establishment. He wants to prevent it from crystallizing as a legitimate
and influential public body. He seeks to delegitimize WAC in order to
frighten workers from turning to it.
WAC will not give in to the Registrar's witchhunt. Just as it forced him
last year to register it as an NPA, so in the present campaign WAC will
prove the rightness of its cause and the baselessness of the Registrar's
accusations. Recently, WAC has begun developing relationships with
unions throughout the world. We now turn to all who know our work,
asking that they raise a voice of protest against this latest attempt to
impede our freedom.
Protest messages should be sent to:
Registrar of NPAs in Israel: Amiram Boget
POB 2420 Jerusalem 91203
Ph 972-2-6546600 Fax: 972-2-6546632
Minister Of the Interior, Mr. Eli Ishai
POB 6158 Jerusalem 91061
Ph 972-2-6701411 Fax 972-2-6701628
Minister of Justice Mr. Meir Shitrit
29 Salah A Din St. Jerusalem 91010
Ph 972-2-6708511 Fax 972-2-6288618
Website: http://www.justice.gov.il
It is essential that we receive copies of your messages in order to
conduct the campaign. Our e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Thank you for your support!
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