Worker to Worker Solidarity Fund [the Fund]

WHY the Fund was established

In 2008, Sawt el-Amel launched a solidarity legal-aid project for workers from Gaza who used to work for Israeli employers and who did not get compensation and severance pay after they lost their jobs due to closure and disengagement. The main goal of the project is to secure financial compensation for the workers through negotiations with their former employers and litigation in the Israeli courts. As of November 2009, 54 claims have been submitted to the Israeli labour court, another 130 cases are being investigated by Sawt el-Amel’s lawyers.

According to Israeli labour standards, workers are entitled to a minimum wage, holiday and overtime pay, severance pay and other social benefits, and the Israeli labour courts have decided to deal with the cases Sawt el-Amel submitted on behalf of workers from Gaza. However, the employer’s lawyers have asked the court to require a USD 400/EUR 270/GBP 240 security deposit from each worker in order to cover expenses and inconveniences incurred by the employer in case the workers lose the case. As of November 2009, the court has ordered two workers to pay such deposit within 60 days. Sawt el-Amel expects that the court will give the same ruling regarding the other 52 pending cases.

Neither the workers from Gaza nor Sawt el-Amel are able to cover this amount.

Therefore, Sawt el-Amel established the worker to worker solidarity fund and seeks to raise USD 22,000 in order to be prepared to pay the workers’ security deposits once the court demands such payments.

WHAT you can do

Help us raise the money for the workers’ security deposits by

Fully or partly covering a worker’s security deposit;

 

Getting your organisation or department/branch to support a worker;

 

Telling your colleagues and friends about the worker to worker solidarity fund.

For details on how to donate money, click here.

Read the Declaration of Contribution

WHERE the money goes

The financial contributions to the Fund go to Sawt el-Amel. Sawt el-Amel will use the money to pay the workers’ security deposits in the Israeli labour courts.

Click here to find out more about the workers we represent.

Future investment of unused or restituted resources:

Unused or restituted resources of the Fund will remain in a savings account held by Sawt el-Amel until the workers’ cases have been solved. Then, Sawt el-Amel will consult with the contributors on how to invest remaining assets.

WHO administers the Fund

The worker to worker solidarity fund [the Fund] is administered by the organisation Sawt el-Amel. Sawt el-Amel is a non-profit organisation (reg. no. 58 0365658) registered in Israel; you can make tax-deductible donations to us according to the laws applying to you.

Worker to Worker Solidarity Fund: Declaration of Conduct

Sawt el-Amel hereby declares that we will

Use all financial contributions to the Fund for the sole purpose of paying security deposits for workers from Gaza in order to pursue their cases in the Israeli court system;

 

Provide the contributors with regular updates on the pending cases;

 

Inform the workers from Gaza about who supports their cases; 

 

Consult with the contributors on how to invest unused resources and restituted deposits in the future.

Sawt el-Amel notes that at the current stage we

Cannot say with certainty what the court’s final decision on the security deposits will be, i.e. whether all claimants will be required to pay a deposit or whether Sawt el-Amel appeal against the decision to require deposits will be successful;

 

Cannot provide any timeline or guarantee of success for the pending cases.