On December 29, 2007, Kav LaOved and the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions in Jericho held a first conference of its kind. It dealt with the rights of Palestinian workers employed in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. 250 workers from towns in the West bank attended, in addition to workers from the Mishor Adumim industrial zone and Jordan Valley agricultural workers. 

The conference was a forum for the collective wishes of Palestinian workers employed under poor conditions by Israelis to fight for their rights under Israeli labour laws. Their principal demand was to receive the pay slips denied to most of them. 

In October 2007 the High Court of Justice ruled that Israeli labour laws applied to Israeli West Bank settlements. The High Court ruling on the matter is riveting because it removes the security footing and brings economic interests to the fore. The ruling has immediate practical implications. One week after the ruling, Palestinian workers began taking action to achieve their rights. 

In July 2007, according to Knesset Migrant Workers Committee research data, 18,000 people with Civil Administration work permits were employed in Israeli settlements. They were employed in agriculture, construction, services and in industrial zones. Local trade unions believe the number to be higher. 

Workers complain of a new phenomenon in West Bank industrial zones. Labourers are employed though Palestinian middlemen, who supply manpower during strikes and worker protests over pay and conditions, thus increasing competition for jobs. A worker at an Israeli plant, who had been on strike for three weeks, said that the strike was broken when his employer took on new workers through a Palestinian agent. The worker said, ‘We need a solution to this problem. Our situation at the plant is becoming worse. The workers are under pressure because there are others willing to replace them. We have not been able to convince the new workers to leave their jobs because they have no other source of income’. Jericho Trade Union Federation chairman, Wael Nadef, called upon workers employed through job brokers to lodge complaints with Palestinian Union offices. 

A large turnout by Palestinian media at the conference is testimony to Palestinian society’s interest in the matter. The turnout means these workers are no longer marginalised in Palestinian society, a situation which persisted despite their being a major source of income for many Palestinian families in the West Bank.