The Coalition for Direct Employment

The Coalition was established in 2011 and is supported Israel’s leading non-profit organizations in this area including Shatil, ACRI, Beer Sova, Tel Hai College and Dizengof Center, in addition to contract workers, individual activists, community leaders, academics and business people. The rate of inequality in Israel is 21.7%, according to a recent report by Israel’s National Insurance Institute. This is a historically high rate compared to the national-highest in OECD countries. One reason for this inequality is contractual employment. Contract workers are generally temporary, employed by a third party, and have inferior terms and benefits. They are mainly members of the lower class in the labour market, including women, young workers, immigrants and high-school graduates. Subcontracted employees currently number approximately 430,000 in the public sector only we can build a network of workers from different social groups and backgrounds that understand the discrimination, and use new skills and their shared identity to change the employment system. In order to establish a sustainable process, there is a need to provide access to knowledge, tools and strengthen leadership and activism skills. This creates practical opportunities for the realization of a platform that allows workers to become agents of change and take control of their reality. Furthermore, solidarity, together with a common foundation of democratic values can give rise to the growth of new leadership. The theory is bottom-up - where the people suffering from the problem are the ones that lead the change and create processes and projects that challenge the system, raise awareness, and change behaviours - resulting in a systemic change in the status quo and in the balance of power.