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| By Naama Sikuler | "Ynet", May 14, 2007 |
Report: 15,000 foreign workers exploited
Chinese workers employed in construction earn less and their social rights are not being met, according to Hotline for Migrant Workers and Kav Laoved-Worker's Hotline
Some 15,000 Chinese construction workers are employed in Israel in inferior conditions, which enable their employees to exploit them, a report published Sunday evening by the Hotline for Migrant Workers and Kav Laoved-Worker's Hotline has revealed. As of the second half of 2005, construction workers in Israel are employed by manpower companies which receive a license from the State, and are no longer tied to a specific employer. The new employment method is aimed at improving the workers' rights and enabling them to move from one employer to another, but the report reveals that there are still great power differences between the employer and the employee, leaving the foreign worker in a state of inferiority which allows the employer to harm his rights.
Earn less than minimum wage
The salary of foreign construction workers is worth 87 percent of the minimum wage in Israel (NIS 4,650 compared to a minimum wage of 5,358). Although their salary has increased compared to previous years, the workers are the ones subsidizing the rise through the enlarged mediation fees they pay before arriving in Israel. A worker interested in working in Israel is forced to pay manpower companies in China and Israel an average sum of more than NIS 69,000). According to the report, the State of Israel benefits from the new situation, earning more than NIS 191 million from the new arrangement by August 2006. Some 218 complaints have been filed against 70 percent of the corporations employing construction workers for violating labor laws. The Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry has already imposed heavy tight sanctions on six of the companies. In addition, 14 percent of the workers reported that they had not received paychecks, and 43 percent did not receive time sheets from the employers.
