Background and Previous Experience
Inbal Shlosberg-Sela is an Israeli social worker and labor activist. She holds an M.A. in Social work studies from Ben Gurion University (Israel), where her thesis had focused on revitalization processes within the social workers’ union in Israel. In addition to Inbal’s work as a community social worker, she has been one of the founders and the chairwoman of “Atidenu” (in Hebrew – our future): a national grassroots movement fighting for change in welfare policy and social workers’ rights in light of extensive privatization processes. As part of this work, Inbal had established a section in the social workers’ union that represents the privatized and non-governmental workers throughout the country. After a decade of fighting on behalf of privatized workers, in March 2017 the campaign resulted in unprecedented governmental decision to equalize the wages and benefits of the non-governmental social workers to those employed in the public sector. Inbal had published several papers addressing the effects of privatization on social services workers and advancing proposal for policy reform.
Current Research
Inbal’s research, in collaboration with Prof. Ariel Avgar, will focus on an in-depth analysis of the Israeli social workers’ union campaign. In particular, she will examine the labor relations conditions that account for the campaign’s success and the extent to which it is indicative to revitalization processes in the broader Federation of Labor in Israel. This research is expected to contribute to existing literature on the interactions between grassroots movements, unions, and labor federations with implications for revitalization processes in other contexts.
Inbal Shlosberg-Sela
