Palestinian public and private sector unions mobilize all over the West Bank in defense of their socio-economic rights

Beginning of December, 25 Palestinian unions and federations in the public and private sectors mobilized to protest against unilateral decisions of the Palestinian government regarding the introduction of amendments to the tax law, the civil service law and the compulsory health insurance law, the proposed optional implementation of the pension law for the private sector, the draft trade union law, the draft strike law for the public sector and local government employees, and the lack of responsiveness of the government to specific union demands.

Under the slogan "Partners in building our country, partners in decision-making!", they demanded that the government engage in effective social dialogue with all the unions that represent workers in the public and private sectors.

While a central rally was organized in front of the Council of Ministers in Ramallah, during which representatives of several political factions of the Palestinian Legislative Council expressed their support to the unions' demands and reaffirmed that the government cannot assume legislative power and forgo consultations and discussions with all concerned parties, parliament members foremost.

 The Federation of University Professors and Employees Unions (Global Network Arab Countries member) was among the organizer of the day of action together with other more than 20 organizations.

One of the major issues raised by the unions is the fundamental injustice of the proposed tax law amendments that would impose taxation on the severance pay of public and private sector, as well as on the pension allowances of retired public sector employees and earnings of small farmers.

As mentioned by the head of the Federation of Palestinian University Professors and Employees Trade Unions, Dr. Amjad Barham "Since we are still deprived of the benefits of a pension system, we only have our severance pay to live on when we retire, which is not much.

Since the beginning of 2010, the Federation of Independent Unions-Palestine and its member unions have been campaigning relentlessly for the implementation of the pension law - currently benefiting only public sector employees- to all other categories of workers entitled to it (the private and non-governmental sectors, as well as local government workers); the government's proposed regulation falls short of their expectations, as it would render the pension system optional, while the law confirmed by a presidential decree stipulates that it should be compulsory for all sectors. Unions are also extremely concerned about the proposed strike law for public sector and local government employees that would place serious restrictions on this right in contravention of the Palestinian Basic Law, as well as international labor standards.

The unions decided to suspend their actions for a period of one month, to give a chance to establishing a dialogue, following the promise made by President Mahmoud Abbas not to ratify any legislation before constructive discussions could take place with union representatives and all other concerned parties.

For further information, please contact: Amira Massoud, a.massoud@dwrc.org / Democracy and Workers' Rights Center in Palestine.