News

Union activists from the Jawwal and the Paltel unions gathered in Ramallah on January 26-27 for a workshop on collective bargaining carried out by UNI ICTS and UNI SCORE. Almost 40 people attended the training, which was the second in a series of workshops for Palestinian ICTS unions launched in Amman, Jordan in August 2017.

The activists were trained on the collective bargaining process: on engaging the union membership and preparing their claims, on presenting and arguing their case with the employer, and on implementing agreements in their workplaces. While the Paltel union has already negotiated a number of agreements with their employer, the fixed-line company Paltel, the Jawwal union is currently working towards their first collective agreement.

Jawwal is the largest mobile operator in Palestine and, like its competitor Wataniya, was only able to launch 3G services in the country this January. The Israeli authorities had previously denied 3G access to the Palestinians due to alleged security concerns. All Israeli mobile operators, which also service the settlements on the West Bank, have been using 4G technology for years. Like much else, Gaza is still being denied this essential service, and continues to operate on 2G technology only.