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7 May, 2007
ICEM affiliate Petroleum, Mining, Chemical Workers’ in Palestine (GUPMCWP) undertook a two-day course in Ramallah on trade union education and committee building. The workshops took place 27-28 April.
The training for 25 workers is a continuation of programmes and practices that the union is engaged in to build a democratic trade union movement.
In February, some 60 Palestinian labour activists took part in a similar seminar, also in the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah.
Workers in Palestine have suffered immeasurably due to restrictions by the Israeli military on freedom of movement to and from jobs. The production of goods from Palestine and the providing of services have also stricken the country’s economy, in what the ICEM has stated is “collective punishment of a people.”
Viable and democratic trade unions hold the future for growth and a measure of prosperity for millions of Palestinians, the ICEM believes. To help achieve that, the ICEM has established a programme with GUPMCWP that includes training for women workers inside Birzeit Pharmaceutical, a factory that has experienced shortages of raw products due to delays caused by the Israeli authorities.
GUPMCWP President Mohammad Mousa Jadallah
GUPMCWP President Mohammad Mousa Jadallah said that the Palestinians that are hurt the most by Israel’s blockade on movement, trade, and revenues are women, children, and the elderly.
Jadallah said the union’s workers’ training programmes will heighten awareness to potential gains that can be made for all Palestinian workers.
Nabeel Mahmmoud, GUPMCWP’s International Director, said the training serves as basic organising, and that building of democratic committee structures inside workplaces – particularly Birzeit Pharmaceutical – is a necessity in Palestine to alleviate poverty.