Transition from the old to the new: lessons learned in the Israeli Histadrut during the Ramon leadership

Yaffa Moskovich
2011 SEER. Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe. Journal of the European Trade Union Institute  
The old Histadrut was founded as a welfare agency, employed about one-third of the Israeli labour force and was the dominant health service provider, being primarily funded by insurance premiums. A socialist entity, the Histadrut was politically and economically linked to the Labour Party which helped fund it while in government. In 1994, a new leader -Haim Ramon -was elected. He transformed the Histadrut into a confederation of autonomous labour unions, selling off Histadrut enterprises and
more » ... ets to private investors and severing all political ties. The Histadrut underwent a downsizing and focused on trade union goals. A year later, Ramon resigned from the Histadrut. This article explores the transformation and Ramon's political objectives and orientation, concluding that the Histadrut, already in a position of corruption and weakness, and experiencing a loss of political and organisational legitimacy, has been heavily damaged by this period. Trade unions may be going through problems of downsizing and decline but the key to survival is a leader who believes in the concept of empowerment.
doi:10.5771/1435-2869-2011-4-571 fatcat:yre5m2k7d5hhdnkq3sansx6jl4