10 Facts About Histadrut

Histadrut was founded in December 1920 in Haifa to look out for the interests of Jewish workers.

Histadrut became one of the most powerful institutions in the state of Israel, a mainstay of the Labour Zionist movement and, aside from being a trade union, its state-building role made it the owner of a number of businesses and factories.

Under the law, Clalit's tie to the Histadrut was severed and Israelis were given a choice in membership between Clalit and the three other Israeli health insurance funds, which were now prohibited from discriminating against applicants for age and medical reasons.

Once an affiliation with the Histadrut was no longer a prerequisite for membership in Clalit, many of its insured dropped their labor union membership, while others switched to other health funds now that age or pre-existing conditions no longer precluded them from joining.

Histadrut managed to recover from its low point in membership and gradually grow in membership.

Related searches

The Histadrut took over economic firms operated by the parties, which operated by subcontracting, and their Office of Information, which was expanded into a Labor Exchange.

Histadrut set up a well-defined hierarchy and reduced the competencies of local workers' councils.

Histadrut centralised the collection of membership dues, most of which were formerly used up by local branches.

The Zionist Executive, sharing the goal of stimulating immigration with the Histadrut, had to do this because besides the Histadrut there was no other organisation in Palestine with the ability to absorb immigrants.

Histadrut has been criticized by European trade unions and international human rights groups over its failure to represent migrant workers, considered to be the most maltreated employees in Israel.