Following the mobile companies, it seems unionization is becoming a trend in Israeli high tech as well, with Israel’s flagship high-tech company of the 2000s, Comverse, stepping into the spotlight.
In the past few days, the company’s workers established a steering committee that called upon the remaining workers to join the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) mobile, Internet, and high-tech workers’ union. This morning, the Histadrut announced that it had obtained more than 250 signatures from among the company’s 750 employees in Israel, and notified Comverse management that it was the representative organization in the high-tech company.
Histradrut Chairman Avi Nissenkorn said, “This unionization demonstrates to us that more and more workers, in all sectors of the economy, including high tech, believe today in the power of organized labor, which has the ability to guarantee job security and improve working conditions. I call upon Comverse management to honor the workers’ will, and to begin talks with us and with them immediately, and to anchor the agreements between the sides in a collective agreement."
The Comverse workers’ action committee said: “Our goal in unionizing is to lead the company to growth. The idea that guides is that success of the workers will lead to the success of the company, and we intend to be a strong entity, both for the workers and for the company. We will seek to create healthy and respectful dialogue between management and the workers, which will bring stability to the company, and will bring hope to employees at all levels.”
This is the third time since February of last year that a high-tech company in Israel has unionized and established a workers’ committee. The first instance was at Ness Technologies, in February 2014, followed by the unionization of SAP employees in September. The unionization of Comverse employees seems more significant, if only because it is a company that was known for its success and leadership, until in the last decade it underwent wave after wave of layoffs, leading to its contraction.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 19, 2015
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