A resolution advocating approval of the Communistinspired Stockholm Peace Appeal as well as abolition of atomic weapons was rejected today by a large majority of the delegates attending a conference of the National Council of the Histadrut, Israel’s Federation of Labor, which opened here last night. The resolution was introduced by the Mapam, left-wing group of the Histadrut. However, many Mapam members voted against it, since the group is split internally on this issue.
Addressing the delegates, Pinhas Lubianiker, general secretary of the Histadrut, said that the labor federation today controls about 16 percent of all industrial enterprises in Israel, and is continuing to expand in basic industries. He reported that the Histadrut is building new factories outside of Tel Aviv and Haifa with a view to scattering the country’s industries.
Reviewing the activities of the Histadrut for the last 14 months, Mr. Lubianiker reported that the organization now numbers 311,000 members as compered with 280,000 members in June, 1949. This, he said, represents forty percent of Israel’s adult population.
Mr. Lubianiker also claimed that the Histadrut solved the unemployment problem in the country. Of the 68,000 applicants who registered for work at labor exchanges at the beginning of this year, only about 5,000 remained without employment and these “happen to be mostly difficult cases,” he reported. He emphasized that the Histadrut contributed greatly to the program of absorbing now immigrants and arranging medical care for them.
The Histadrut leader paid high tribute to David Dubinsky, president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union in America, and to other American labor leaders, with whose aid the Histadrut set up a $10,000,000 housing corporation, which is helping to ease the housing shortage in Israel. He revoaled that the Histadrut tribunal has imposed heavy sanctions on several settlements for black marketing.
Analyzing the internal situation in the country, Lubianiker said that there were elemonts in Israel interested in gaining political advantages through economic instability. He assured the delegates that the present government, aided by the Histadrut, is capable of maintaining control and stability in the country.
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