• The Palestinian Postal Services Workers Union held its establishing conference on 30/10/2010 under the name “Palestinian Postmen Union” and elected an establishing committee of 11 members for 2 years, as stipulated by the union’s internal statute. It changed its name during this period and made several modifications to its internal statute to serve the union’s goal and reinforce its democratic character. Prior to the establishment of the union, there had been no union organizing in the postal sector in Palestine for 15 years, and the workers had no representatives. • The Palestinian Postal Services Workers’ Union is an active member of the General Federation of Independent Trade Unions in Palestine, and is an independent and democratic union. It holds its general conferences on a regular basis and holds elections for its administrative committees in all transparency. The last elections were held on 1/5/2014, during which the union members elected a new president. Although only a very limited number of women are employed in the postal services in Palestine (for now), the union seeks for women to be represented in its leadership, and has now one female union representative in its administrative committee. • PPSWU is the only trade union representing workers in the postal services and logistics sector in Palestine. It has succeeded in organizing about 250 out of the 700 workers employed in this sector, most of them in the governmental sector (PalPost). • PPSWU has an administrative committee of 11 elected members, each of whom represent a governorate and head the workers’ committee in their area. A branch workers’ committee was established in Wasel Company for Logistics Services, based in Ramallah • PPSWU’s organizing department, safety and health department, and women’s department are the most active and important • PPSWU abides by the principles of the General Federation of Independent Trade Unions – Palestine, Palestinian legislation and international conventions related to trade union work, and maintains a good relationship with all trade unions, civil society and official institutions. Since its establishment, the union never stopped fighting to achieve the rights of postal sector workers, who are facing many issues such as lack of job security and lack of attention to occupational safety and health, and lobbies with employers for respect of the right to affiliate to a union, for better wages and the provision of professional training opportunities • From its establishment, the union has been fighting for improving the status of postal workers employed by the government on temporary contracts, resorting to negotiations, partial strike and sit-ins. Thus, it succeeded in obtaining a wage raise for these workers from 1500 to 2000 shekels through an agreement with the government. It also managed in obtaining the permanent recruitment in the civil service of 30 postal service workers through an agreement with the line Ministry that stipulates that a number of temporary workers will be integrated into the public function every year. This gives them job security and access to a pension system. The union has also enabled many of its members to take part in labor education courses, awareness sessions, seminars and other activities that have allowed them to raise their knowledge of their rights and ways to achieve them. It has established contacts and relations with more than 20 unions at the international level. • PPSWU is a member of the trade union coalition for the boycott-divestment-sanctions against Israel (BDS) and is represented in its general assembly. It launched a call for an international boycott of Israel in the postal sector in 2012, asking all trade unions to stand with Palestinian rights, boycott the Israeli Occupier and support Palestine as a State that has a right to direct postal exchanges. It also regularly denounces Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, particularly those that concern postal workers; thus, during the murderous Israeli offensive on Gaza, the union issued a call for international solidarity and exposed Israeli crimes and violations of the laws of war • The union has Facebook pages in several languages and is successful in maintaining contact with its members and other unions through social media. It always seeks to spread its press releases and news widely, and welcomes interactions and inquiries. • PPSWU needs: The union is still unable to reach all workers in its sector and organize them, because of its limited finances, and the influence of private companies on their employees. Laws are more favorable to employers than workers in Palestine, and there is no job security in the private sector. Thus, it is not an easy task to overcome fears and organize workers in the sector. The union would like to garner support for a project for educating postal workers on trade union rights and liberties, advocacy, organizing and defending rights, as well as support to unite with Telecom and IT unions in a single federation in Palestine, and enable the union to monitor, document and report Israeli violations of workers’ rights and activate international boycott. In addition, the union needs specific support to work in Gaza, where it has been unable to organize workers so far due to the lack of means, and obstacles related to the internal political division and differences in legislation, in addition to the physical separation between West Bank and Gaza. Like the rest of the population, postal workers in Gaza have suffered greatly during the Israeli offensive, and it would be really helpful if the union was able to organize activities that include psychosocial support, and provide other forms of assistance to help them resume their professional lives with greater serenity.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 09:25:26 +0000
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