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9 April 1946: Palestine general strike
About this Episode
On this day, 9 April 1946, Palestinian Arab and Jewish workers at the Tel Aviv post office walked out on strike. The next day, they were joined by postal workers across all of Palestine in what would soon develop into a general strike of blue and white-collar public sector workers.
In response to the postal workers' strike, employers quickly made far-reaching concessions, which the Histadrut (the Jewish union federation) recommended employees accept. However, rank-and-file postal workers voted to reject the offer and continue their strike.
On 14 April, Arab and Jewish railway workers joined the strike, paralysing the country's rail system. Middle and lower-level white collar government employees also joined the strike so that, by 15 April, 23,000 workers were on strike across the country. It also seemed that oil workers would join the strike, but this was opposed by the Histadrut on the basis that it would harm the broader Zionist project.
Despite this, by the end of April workers had won a number of concessions: a increase in wages and cost-of-living adjustments, and improvements to the pension system. Palestinian Arab and Jewish communists declared the strike "a blow against the 'divide and rule' policy of imperialism, a slap in the face of those who hold chauvinist ideologies and propagate national division."
However, the strike would prove to be a one-off as worker solidarity gave way to ethnic cleansing and the Nakba.
Learn more in episodes 86-87 of our podcast, about class struggle in Palestine: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e86-87-class-struggle-in-palestine/
Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.
In response to the postal workers' strike, employers quickly made far-reaching concessions, which the Histadrut (the Jewish union federation) recommended employees accept. However, rank-and-file postal workers voted to reject the offer and continue their strike.
On 14 April, Arab and Jewish railway workers joined the strike, paralysing the country's rail system. Middle and lower-level white collar government employees also joined the strike so that, by 15 April, 23,000 workers were on strike across the country. It also seemed that oil workers would join the strike, but this was opposed by the Histadrut on the basis that it would harm the broader Zionist project.
Despite this, by the end of April workers had won a number of concessions: a increase in wages and cost-of-living adjustments, and improvements to the pension system. Palestinian Arab and Jewish communists declared the strike "a blow against the 'divide and rule' policy of imperialism, a slap in the face of those who hold chauvinist ideologies and propagate national division."
However, the strike would prove to be a one-off as worker solidarity gave way to ethnic cleansing and the Nakba.
Learn more in episodes 86-87 of our podcast, about class struggle in Palestine: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e86-87-class-struggle-in-palestine/
Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.
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Hosts & Guests
No transcript available for this episode.
