The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday ordered the Histadrut labor federation to cancel a meeting of its representative council, scheduled for Tuesday, to approve Chairman Ofer Eini’s (Labor Party) choice of Avi Nissenkorn, head of the trade union division, as his successor. Member of Knesset Eitan Cabel petitioned the Tel Aviv District Court, Sunday, against proceedings to name Avi Nissenkorn of the Histadrut Labor Federation’s trade-union department to succeed Eini as head of the Histadrut. Eini announced, last week, that he is stepping down in February.
Histadrut headquarters in Tel-Aviv (Photo: Al Ittihad)
Cabel lost to Eini the last time elections were held for the post. He claimed that the federation is one of Israel’s most important bodies and as such, its leadership must not be treated as a monarchy in which one leader crowns his successor. He said even if the selection is according to Histadrut rules, it is immoral from the public standpoint.
Last year dissent Labor MK Eitan Cabel launched a campaign to head the Histadrut labor federation, accusing incumbent Labor chairman Ofer Eini of favoring big business and the wealthy over the workers. “Eini has been revealed as no less than a collaborator who turned his back on the workers and betrayed his mission,” Cabel said at a press conference in Tel Aviv. “He abandoned those who chose him, favoring the wealthy, the employers and the treasury.” He presented “The Social Home,” a new fraction in the Histadrut Labor Federation elections, saying that if Eini continues as chairman, there will no longer be an organized labor union in Israel. “The Social Home”, with the backing of Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel), Meretz and several dissent Labor members. Labor, Cabel’s party, endorsed Eini, and threatened to punish Cabel should pursue the Histadrut leadership. “Eini has a reign of terror and threats, and we will break it. Every country has its own Tahrir Square,” the MK said. According to the dissent Labor MK, Eini turned the Histadrut into a Byzantine court by appointing his wife and brother to key jobs and became “part of the system” by cooperating with a destructive, capitalist and neo-liberal government
Related:
