palestinian workers

Trade Unions around the World Support Antiquities Authority Workers

Press Release

Israel Antiquities Authority and the bureau of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment’s work relations officer have recently been inundated by thousands of emails calling on them to honor the rights of 21 Antiquities employees from East Jerusalem. These workers were fired in an attempt to circumvent the amendment to the Employment of Workers by Personnel Contractors Law according to which they should be granted regular positions as permanent employees. (For background information about the case, please see the WAC website.)

These emails come after a concerted effort by the international network LabourStart, which coordinates thousands of trade unions from around the world. Last week, the Workers Advice Center (WAC) sent a letter of appeal, as a result of which many trade unions sent emails protesting the dismissals and expressing their support for the Antiquities workers’ struggle. The solidarity campaign waged by WAC together with unionized workers is spreading throughout Israel and around the globe. In addition to donations of food for the workers, who have been left without a source of livelihood, WAC has organized a fundraising event for tomorrow with the participation of leading Israeli artists including Hemi Rudner, Rona Kenan, Kobi Oz, Boaz Banai and others.

The final sitting for this case will take place on Sunday 26 April at Jerusalem’s District Labor Court before Judge Daniel Goldberg. The Antiquities Authority and the personnel contractor Brik have so far denied the workers’ claims, saying instead that the workers were not fired and the amendment to the law is therefore inapplicable. However, according to testimonies collected by WAC from Antiquities workers around the country, there have been other systematic dismissals and the Antiquities Authority’s claims are false.

One of the documents to be disclosed in the coming sitting – after the Authority objected to it being disclosed in the last sitting – is an internal Antiquities Authority protocol from February 2008, in which the decision was taken to require that Brik dismiss workers who had been employed for more than nine months, and in this way avoid the obligation to employ them as regular employees. This document will thus support the workers’ claims and expose the Antiquities Authority’s irregular proceedings in its relations with its workers.

WAC calls on archeologists and Antiquities workers, both past and present, to contact us in order to come together and force the Authority to honor the law and discontinue its dealings with personnel contractor companies that fail to uphold workers’ rights and dignity.

For further details, contact the WAC Coordinator in Jerusalem, Erez Wagner: 054-6343961

For information about the fundraising event in Levontin 7, Tel Aviv, contact Nir Nader: 050-6839443