The Democracy and Workers' Rights Center (DWRC; ) is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

non-governmental, non-profit organization, not affiliated with any political party. DWRC was established in 1993 by a group of trade unionists, lawyers, academics and political figures in Palestinian society to defend workers’ rights and promote social justice. Founders feature Hassan Barghouthi (General Secretary of the International Federation of Workers' Education Associations in Arab Countries), and

Ghassan Khatib Ghassan Khatib (; born 1954) is a Palestinian politician. He was born in Nablus, in the West Bank, and is a member of the Palestinian People's Party. Khatib is married and has three children. He was also a member of the Madrid Peace Delegation i ...

(former Planning Minister and longtime journalist). DWRC is centered in

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

with a branch office in

Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...

Significance

In 2000 the Palestinian President ratified the first Palestinian Labor Law. However, according to DWRC the Labor Law lacked teeth, and DWRC lawyers and organizers acted to work with Palestinian Authority legal experts to introduce amendments; late in 2005, DWRC successfully achieved Palestinian Legislative Council acceptance of an alternative Palestinian Labor Law. Existing large-scale trade union federations in Palestine have long since ceased to be democratic according to a range of observers; the Fateh-dominated PGFTU has not had elections since 1981. DWRC, as an independent NGO which is not itself a trade union, has been at the forefront of calling the PGFTU to account within the Palestinian media as well as internationally, and has organized hundreds of democratic worker committees, pushing for a fully transparent Palestinian

labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

. In 2007, DWRC organized the Federation of Independent & Democratic Trade Unions & Workers' Committees in Palestine, launching the first large-scale conference of democratic, independent Palestinian trade unions in decades, representing more than 50,000 female and male workers."Establishing Conference for the Coalition of Independent and Democratic Trade Unions & Workers' Committees in Palestine July 25, 2007"
; Advocacynet, July 25, 2007

References

External links

DWRC siteAdvocacy Project
* Nina Sovich. "Stifling Democracy within Palestinian Unions"; ''Middle East Report,'' No. 215 (Summer, 2000), pp. 2–3 * Nina Sovich. "Palestinian Trade Unions"; ''Journal of Palestine Studies''," Vol. 29, No. 4 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 66-79
IFWEA archive - Dispute between the Independent Workers' Committees Federation and the PGFTU
*"Palestinian union hit on all sides", ''Al-Jazeera'', 14 July 2007, 04:26 *Sos Nissen

News from Within, April, 1996
"Establishing Conference for the Coalition of Independent and Democratic Trade Unions & Workers' Committees in Palestine July 25, 2007"
Advocacynet, July 25, 2007 {{Authority control 1993 establishments in Palestine Economy of Palestine Organizations based in Ramallah Organizations established in 1993 Human rights organizations based in Palestine Workers' rights organizations Democracy promotion