Ramallah- Human Rights and Democracy Media Center SHAMS, calls upon the International Labor Organization as well as the various regional and international labor federations and unions, to press on the Occupation’s state (Israel) to stop its violations against more than two hundred thousand Palestinian workers (males/ females) working inside the Israeli labor market. SHAMS Center calls upon the international organizations to lobby Israel to stop oppressing Palestinian workers and racist discrimination against them as well as persuading them daily by the Israeli army. The Israeli authorities are violating the basic rights of the Palestinian workers, among which is the right to access their work sites. The Center added that the Israeli authorities are proceeding in oppressing the Palestinian workers through arrogance procedures on the checkpoints in order to deprive workers from accessing the sources of their living. Additionally, according to SHAS Center, the Palestinian workers are subject to daily arrest and interrogation by the Israeli forces.
SHAMS Center saluted and appreciated the Palestinian workers who are searching for a decent life for themselves and their families. Palestinian workers are fighters for dignity and social justice as a group responsible for building their homeland and sacrifice to ensure that their community is enjoying a life of dignity and prosperity.
SHAMS Center condemns ending exploiting the Palestinian workers and stealing their daily living by the Israeli employers and the Israeli official authorities. Theft the Palestinian workers is practiced through the so- called “permissions trade” where due to such phenomenon, the Palestinian worker had to pay more than half of his income to obtain a permission that enables him/ her to access the work sites. Additionally, the Israeli employers and companies, exploit the workers who do not have permissions where they receive low wages and deprived of rights including right to end service indemnity and health insurance. Additionally, there is discrimination against Palestinian workers when it comes to wages comparing with the Israeli workers. The Israeli worker gets double the wage that the Palestinian worker gets for the same work and within the same employment facility.
SHAMS Center appreciates the role and efforts of Palestinian worker women who dedicate their lives to sustain their families and achieve a life of justice and prosperity. SHAMS Center salutes especially women who head their families where those women work inside the house and in the labor market to sustain the family with the absence of male breadwinner in the family (mainly in case the husband is not living with the family or being unable to work)
SHAMS Center emphasized the necessity to provide Palestinian workers with the safety measures, especially those working in the construction field. Those workers are subject to permanent risks that might cause them death or disability; those workers are subject to daily accidents such as falling from heights, where this case became a phenomenon recently in the Palestinian labor market. SHAMS Center summons the related official authorities to provide Palestinian workers with more rights and amend the Palestinian Labor Law (7/ 2000) to provide safe work environment for workers and protect their rights. The organization emphasizes the necessity to monitor implementing the minimum wages law (1880 NIS). According to the official reports of the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics for the year 2023, the minimum wages law is not implemented where 40% of those employed by the private sector, receive wages below the minimum wages level identified by the Palestinian government. Additionally, less than a third of those employed by the private sector (28%), receive their rights (retirement, end of service indemnity, paid vacations, and sick leaf). The number of employees in the private sector who have written work contract for undefined time is 83 thousands while 90 thousand workers have written temporarily work contract (or verbal contract). There are 294 thousand workers who have no work contract. Likewise, only 46% of employed women get paid maternity leave