Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Israel (Ratification: 1957)

The Committee notes the observations of the General Federation of Labour in Israel (Histadrut) received on 1 September 2017. The Committee notes that the Histadrut is expressing its concern that a decision of the High Court of Justice in a pending case regarding the right to strike could result in limiting and narrowing this right so as to no longer include the possibility of using strike action against the Government’s decisions directly affecting workers’ rights on such matters as employment stability following privatization. The Histadrut alleges that the Government now considers such strikes to be of a political nature, which are prohibited in the country, and that a decision limiting the right to strike against the Government’s privatizations or similar reforms would be inconsistent with the protection afforded by the Convention. Recalling that strikes relating to the Government’s economic and social policies are legitimate and therefore should not be regarded as purely political strikes, the Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in response to the above position set forth by the Histadrut.