MK (Machane Tzioni) Shelly Yacimovich is running for the leadership of the Histadrut National Labor Federation, as reported by YWN-ISRAEL. Yacimovich enjoys the backing of the Shas party in her bid for the top labor spot, and this allegedly is resulting in the labor union retaliating against Shas.

During her address before the Chareidi Institute for Policy Studies, Yacimovich spoke of the “Attempts to de-legitimize my candidacy for the chairmanship of the Histadrut are surprising me every time, and there is a perception that the Histadrut chairman’s role goes from man to man and that a woman can only deal with the leadership of Na’amat. For 97 years, there has not been a woman heading by the Histadrut, which suffers from extreme under-representation of women in senior positions.

“97 years in which the Histadrut has not set itself a goal of equal wages between women and men or initiating frameworks in workplaces that will make it easier for women to work like daycare in the workplace, in order to facilitate the employment of women.”

She continued, stating, “A month and a half ago the Shas education network was to enter the Histadrut, which includes 6,000 new members, mostly women. The deal was ultimately canceled after they learned I signed a deal by which Shas is supporting my candidacy”.

Yacimovich concluded “This is a testament to the political and organizational mix, and of course it saddens me and I intend to correct this after I am elected; to a large extent thanks to the voices of women, and to a large extent thanks to traditional chareidi women”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)