Koah LaOvdim (Hebrew: כוח לעובדים, lit.'Power to the Workers') is an Israeli labor union organization founded in 2007 (and registered in 2008) as an initiative by a group of social and labor activists to create a new, active and militant general labor union in Israel.[1] The organization was established as a result of several failed labor struggles and unionization attempts in Israel in the preceding years, primarily that of the temporary labourers in the Ben Gurion International Airport in 2006.[2]

Koah LaOvdim
Koah LaOvdim – Democratic Workers’ Organization
כוח לעובדים
Founded2007 (2007)
Members
18,000 (2020)
Websiteworkers.org.il

In the years since its establishment, Koah LaOvdim have increased its numbers substantially and by 2017 it became Israel's third largest labor union with around 35,000 workers represented by the organization.[3] The organization's establishment is often credited with initiating the "unionization boom" of the late 2000s in Israel.[3]

The union's political position is on the left, with their stated aims being:

  • To assist unorganized workers in getting organized in their workplace both in the public and the private sector.
  • To promote the existence of organized labor in the Israeli economy.
  • To wage an uncompromising struggle in the defense of workers’ rights and the improvement of their pay and working conditions.
  • To work for the establishment of social and economic justice, a welfare state and industrial democracy.[1]

Koah LaOvdim is a multi-national, trans-ethnic and cross-sectional organization, unionizing workers from all sectors of Israeli society, with equality and solidarity between Jews and Arabs being one of the organization's core beliefs,[4] and the organization have worked against racist incidents against Arab workers in Israel.[5] Koah LaOvdim is also a proponent of feminism and gender equality in the workforce, and it maintains a feminist section "Koah LaOvdot".[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b "כוח לעובדים  » English". Koah LaOvdim. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  2. ^ גולדשטיין, תני (2009-05-02). "לא על ההסתדרות לבדה: הכירו את כוח לעובדים" [Not just about the Histadrut alone: get to know the Koah LaOvdim]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  3. ^ a b "עובדי ישראל מתאגדים בהמוניהם? הנתונים מספרים סיפור אחר". TheMarker (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  4. ^ "כוח לעובדים - ארגון עובדים דמוקרטי" [Koah LaOvdim - a democratic workers' organization]. KolZchut (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  5. ^ "העלון הגזעני של ארגון להב"ה נגד "אגד": "לא טוב שההגה בידיים של מוחמד"" [The racist leaflet of the Lehava organization against Egged: "It is not good that the idea is in the hands of Muhammad"]. Nana 10 (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  6. ^ "יוזמה חדשה: מודל של הסכם שכר קיבוצי לקידום שוויון מגדרי" [A new initiative: a model of a collective wage agreement to promote gender equality]. TheMarker (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-06-06.