Plans for a far reaching organizational reform leading toward greater decentralization of the Histadrut, Israel’s general federation of labor, were announced here today by Mordecai Namir, secretary general of the Histadrut, in a report opening the organization’s eighth national convention. Present at the session were 801 delegates, Israel President Itzhak Ben Zvi. Premier David Ben Furion, members of the Cabinet and of the Knesset.
Reporting on the growth of the Israel trade union movement, Mr. Namir said that since 1948 when the State of Israel was established, 375,000 new members had joined it. These newcomers, he said, constituted two-thirds of the total membership. The Histadrut now represented 60 percent of the total working force of Israel, compared to the 44 percent which had been covered before 1948. Among the Histadrut members, he said, were 150,000 employed in Histadrut controlled enterprises and 190,000 agricultural workers.
The pressing reasons for decentralization of the Histadrut, Mr. Namir said, included the phenomenal growth of the federation and affiliated unions since the state was established, and the emergence of the state itself. Prior to the establishment of the state, he noted, the Histadrut had many functions which have since been taken over by the Government of Israel. This leaves the Histadrut free to handle its prime mission–the protection of workers–he said.
As the session got under way today, the relatively small General Zionist workers group affiliated with the Histadrut split into two groups. The new one with some 30 delegates, calls itself the “Independent Working Section” within the Histadrut.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
