Even on his 65th birthday, Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David does not stop working - and before he came for an interview, he met with workers from the southern district. Leading the Anchors faction in the May 24 Histadrut elections, he talks about the "tremendous support" he receives from the field and is convinced that the workers will choose him because of his way, the dialogue and good relations over the militant spirit that accompanied the organization for years.
You are less on the streets, there are no strikes. Has the Histadrut weakened? Need organized work at all in 2022?
"The Histadrut has grown stronger, we are seeing a steady increase in the number of its members - every year tens of thousands of members join. Israelis have a trait they want to be organized, to be together, under the wings of someone to protect them - and, Histadrut. A pig of employers, which led to another wave of organizing, and then there began to be a balance between the power of employers and the power of workers.
"The whole economy is under the wings of the Histadrut - the education and health systems, government ministries, local authorities, factories and more. We saw the power of the Histadrut in Corona - none of the workers were injured or sent to the IDF.
Everyone was given full protection, and we were able to move everyone from the stormy water to a safe shore, not forgetting that there is a country on the edge and that we want to maintain economic stability as much as possible.
We gave the country the option to run the corona.
Now imagine what it would be like if we went out into the streets. "
The Histadrut elections are approaching and do not see media buzz, at least not as in the time of Shelly Yachimovich against Avi Nissenkorn, for example. How do you feel on the ground?
"The media is busy with security, the war in Ukraine and other things. But the elections are very kicking and the terrain is stormy. I travel all over the country from morning to night, I am on a journey into the depths of Israeli society. I meet all types of population and receive tremendous support. For slander. "
The current election campaign is one of the instincts we have seen: allegations of forgery, complaints to the police. Who even remembers that once you and Ofer Eini, who is competing in front of you in a race, were partners in the journey. What happens in the organization?
"I can not get into a person's way of thinking. I think at all that we should go forward in life and not backwards, and that is what I do with the Histadrut. I expect people who have finished their job as well (Eini served as chairman of the Histadrut from 2006 to 2014; "C) They will not go back. The last time I checked, I did not see that the Histadrut house on Arlozorov Street was registered in the name of Eini, but in the name of the workers.
"The workers understand that the Histadrut is a different Histadrut, the elections are also about thinking ahead, seeing a new labor market and creating a new world of work, a world of new agreements versus reactionary forces that want to return the Histadrut to other periods. We do not want to go back to where we left "A tire and a megaphone in the right hand. These days are over. Today I am leading the Histadrut to the forefront of decision-makers in the State of Israel. That is where we are."
Do not want a world war
Bar-David says that when he took office in the Histadrut three years ago, a "pile of legislation on the table" awaited him, headed by a mandatory arbitration law, which he sought to repeal (the law prohibits monopolies from striking without an arbitration procedure, thus limiting the Histadrut's protest power).
"This is a law that was born as a result of certain behaviors that were in its time," he says, referring to the days of Eini in office. From Arab society to Shas.
I am very proud that the Histadrut is pluralistic.
I am guarding us, because one piece of legislation in the Knesset can cause indescribable damage here, and then there will really be a world war here.
The Histadrut, the workers and the state have one goal in the end - a strong and stable economy. "
The package deal you signed won no small amount of criticism and also got stuck in the Knesset because of the claim that the minimum wage set in it (an increase to the level of NIS 6,000 over three years) is too low, and does not match the current price environment.
"Things need to be put on the table - 6,000 shekels The minimum wage is almost 1,900 euros. In Germany and France the minimum wage is 1,650 euros. The package deal will place us in the top five in the Western world at the minimum wage. I have not seen any party put the minimum wage "Only I put it on the table. When I started talking about 6,000 shekels, people almost fell off the chair. In the end, without a single day of strike, at the height of the corona and even before the budget was approved - the deal was signed between employers, the Histadrut and the state."
But since then the wave of rising prices has come, and what was good in November is already less relevant today. Is not it time to open the deal and fix the minimum wage?
"I will make corrections - the first beat will be an increase to NIS 5,500 and not NIS 5,400. At the end of the period we are talking about an increase of NIS 700, and doubling 12 months is a lot of money a year. Today the minimum wage is NIS 5,300, and you have to move from there. The trees are a lot of things, but in the end we need to reach an understanding with both the employers and the finance ministry. "
Until now, you have not been able to approve it in the Knesset.
"I believe the deal will go through when the government stabilizes itself and there is proper Knesset activity. I will work with all my might to raise the minimum wage and improve the conditions of workers in the public sector - with an emphasis on the weakened workers."
In your estimation, how much longer will this government survive?
"I want political stability. This people should not go to the polls every Monday and Thursday. In my opinion, it will not be possible to endure such a long period with the political situation as it is today."
Containers in the port of Ashdod, Photo: Liron Moldovan
You're on good terms with the Ministry of Finance. The question is whether this is necessarily a right and good thing for the chairman of the Histadrut.
"None of us wants to go back to what was in the time of Amir Peretz as chairman of the Histadrut and Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister. Avi Nissenkorn had a good relationship with Moshe Kahlon, I have a good and correct relationship with Avigdor Lieberman, and this is so that we can promote the economy and the workers in the State of Israel.
"I am not under a particular party, I am working today in all parties. Tomorrow another finance minister will come, and we will also work with him in cooperation. It is possible, but it depends on him. With Israel Katz, for example, we failed to create normal working relations and started wars. You can not sit with walls, you have to sit in front of people talking to you. I do not want to go back, I have sat enough in my life and lit enough tires, to say that today we are first talking. Every day strike is billions of damage to the Israeli economy, I Sees the country on the edge. "
Painstaking work
Bar-David does not hide his criticism of the government's conduct, which does not do enough for him to address the problem of rising prices, such as in the field of housing.
Regarding the reform of agriculture, he says that he does not support it in its current outline: "I am not in favor of harming Israeli agriculture, certainly not in factories that have workers who feed on Israeli agriculture, and we as the Histadrut took it out of the equation and they were not harmed. I will buy a local tomato, even if it costs me a few dozen more cents. "
What is the role of the Histadrut in lowering the cost of living?
"We talk to the big companies as much as we can. A few months ago I wrote to all the managers of the big food companies, asking them to stop the rise in prices. The Treasury also pressured, the media, and all of these together stopped the rises. There is a rise in raw material prices worldwide. ".
Many politicians point the finger of blame at the Histadrut and consider you one of the main factors in the cost of living, due to the traffic jams in the ports.
"There are libertarian forces operating in Israel that do not need to be workers' organizations, do not need agreements, and each for himself. These forces are marginal, I work against them, and to my joy with great success.
"Regarding ports, there is a demand for freight traffic all over the world, which produces queues in all countries. There is an app that shows the number of ships waiting all over the world, and at any point in time there are crazy queues like in Israel because there is excess demand. That load. "
But you delayed unloading them.
"I do not delay. These ports have been built, and according to the agreements containers should be unloaded in them. They are not built for general cargo, they are built for containers. The containers still do not get in there significantly because they have fewer workers. So there are very few docks. We have large ports, and the demand is insane.
"Even though I am before the election, I did not hesitate to 'enter' two committees in the port of Haifa after they refused to allow additional temporary workers to take care of the queue. I also spoke with the CEO of the Port of Ashdod and we agreed to add between 50 and 100 workers.
He said it would solve his problems, but my committees like it a little less.
We picked up the workers, and the queues continued.
"Regulating and balancing the absorption of workers between the old and new ports is not easy, there are negotiations with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transportation on this issue."
Speaking of the ports - Alon Hassan, former chairman of the Ashdod Port Committee, wrote on his Facebook account that he supports Ofer Eini, because he says he did not betray him like "the current members of the Histadrut.
" "I never met him.
I do not know what he means. "
Two brothers of my eyes support you. Why do you think he even decided to return to the Histadrut?
"I tend not to comment on his run. I can only say one thing - I have never left the workers in Israel. I represent workers for 30 years, for better or worse. I never said I was tired and exhausted. I never started a gas company, I never issued on the stock exchange, no "I crossed the lines - I'm not there. I'm here, with the workers in Israel, and that's what I intend to do for the next five years."
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