Histadrut (General Federation of Labor)
National trade union in palestine, 1920
The 1920s was an era of institution building in Palestine. The biggest were Hebrew University and the Histadrut, both of which still exist today. The Histadrut was the workers union, founded in Haifa in 1920, but Ben Gurion made it more than that. He turned it into the central and most powerful institution of the Yishuv and the single largest employer and owner of a wide range of companies. By 1939 nearly 75% of Jewish workers in Palestine belonged to the organization. The Histadrut therefore had considerable political and economic clout, ensuring that its left-wing leadership, with Ben Gurion at the top, were also highly influential. It remained a key part of the Labor Zionist movement for decades and still represents over 600,000 workers in Israel today.