Government action to reduce the Jewish unemployment figure, placed at 4,200, was demanded today at the thirty-third conference of the Histadruth, Palestine labor federation comprising 89,000 workers and wives.
Joshua Frumkin, veteran Zionist leader, reported 3,000 unemployed in the cities and 1,200 in agricultural colonies, urging the Government to create employment opportunities for Jewish laborers.
He disclosed that a special organization will be established to carry out a $1,250,000 housing program with the aid of the Jewish Agency for Palestine. He reported the organization’s unemployment fund as totalling $175,000, saying the funds would be used to provide jobs for 2,500 unemployed workers in coming weeks.
While urging alleviation the unemployment, the 70-year-old Zionist leader declared that 8,000 new immigrants were absorbed into industry and agriculture.
A proposal for introduction of a five-and-a-half day week was made by Aba Chushi, secretary of the Haifa Workers Council. He appealed for support of Palestine industry, declaring, “We are spending millions of dollars buying abroad while our industry would be sufficient.”
Eliezer Kaplan, treasurer of the Jewish Agency Executive, asserted:
“We are now able to emphasize that the Palestine Jewish community is stronger economically than was to be expected. However, many employment opportunities were lost because of the impossibility of providing workers. The Jewish community must solve the unemploy- ment problem by creating employment opportunities in agriculture and industry. The Jewish Agency Executive is doing its utmost to facilitate this.”
Other speakers asked action to decrease the influx of Jews in the cities.
David Remez, member of the Histadruth Executive, in opening the conference, demanded that members of the organization contribute a day’s pay a month to the unemployment fund rather than to conduct a drive for the unemployed. He stated that the chief aim of the parley was to prevent unemployment.
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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.
