Today (Monday) a group of five Thai workers from Moshav Ohad in the Western Negev went on an unlimited strike. The workers demand that their employer, Moti Mizrahi, increase their pay. They refuse to return to work until Mizrahi complies with their demand.

The workers are employed in growing vegetables, and their net wages are 110 shekels for a workday of 7.5 – 8 hours. Minimum wage in Israel is 154 shekels per day for Israeli workers and 148 shekels a day for foreign workers, after deduction for accommodation provided by the employer. Mizrahi agreed to raise wages to 116 shekels, but the workers demand at least 120 shekels. Casey Gonen, Kav LaOved’s Thai workers coordinator, told YNET “All this group of workers want is the exact same salary as is paid to other Thai workers on neighboring farms in the same Moshav, who receive 118 shekels a day, and who have recently demanded a raise.”

We note that tomorrow is the Thai New Year, and the workers will anyway be on vacation. But according to the Thai workers, if Mizrahi does not fulfill their demands, they will not return to work on Wednesday. But Casey Gonen qualifies: “I do not know how long they will be able to strike, since they will not be paid a cent for strike days”.


The employer: “The Strike is not about Money”

“These workers receive gas, electricity and accomodation free of charge, and I pay all the taxes”, says Moti Mizrahi. “Their problem is not the money but the fact that in the last few days I have started going to work in the fields together with them. That’s what I feel like doing, but they complain that when I work with them, they have to work harder because I don’t let them take a break”.

Gonen dismisses Mizrahi’s claim and states that even adding what he spends on the workers, their salary does not reach the minimum wage. She states: “Workers who come from a foreign country in order to work, who have paid a fortune only to reach this country, and who live far from the center in somewhat dangerous places, are entitled to receive accommodation from their employers without deduction from their minimum wage. The law on minimum wages does not all these deductions”.

Mizrahi married a Thai woman before he started employing Thai workers. They are bringing up their son together and he likes to brag that he “does not hate the Thais”. “I do not exploit them”, says Mizrahi, “each worker gets what he deserves. The Thai worker’s think they can do whatever they want because the Israelis don’t want their jobs. Recently I brought in seven Bedouin groups to see if they can replace the Thai workers but none were suitable. They brought me mere children! I would like to pay my present workers more, but I don’t have the money. We provide for everyone: suppliers, drivers, and nothing is left for us. I have a quota to employ 10 Thai workers, but received only five. The Ministry of Interior is ruining us, and we cannot allow ourselves to pay salaries as high as the workers would like”.

Strikes by migrant workers are very rare in Israel. Strikes by Thai workers are more common than by Chinese workers, because the Chinese law forbids striking under penalty of death, even if the strike takes place in a foreign country. Thai law, on the other hand, as in Israel, allows striking and encourages their citizens working in foreign countries to fight for their rights.