The migrant workers industry in Israel, which, according to officials, is worth 300,000,000 dollars a year, is still a source of major rights violation. Kav LaOved has published a concise summary of trafficking and exploitation cases from 2006 (and, as usual, here's a new case concerning a Nepali worker). 

There are some good news on the subject of legislation and enforcement: the government has approved new anti trafficking measures, and an employer was fined $350,000 for employing migrant workers in sub-standard conditions.

There is however, some bad news as well. First, the National labour court has decided that migrant live-in domestic workers are not entitled to any overtime pay, regardless of how much they work. Kav LaOved is contesting the decision in the Supreme Court.

The second piece of bad news concerns a rise in fatal work accidents. The issue is illustrated by State indifference to the death of a Nepali worker in a work related accident.

Moreover, it turns out that the State has been keeping to itself millions of dollars belonging to migrant workers. This money was deposited by employers for Migrant construction workers in accordance with recent legislation. Finally the Tribunal overseeing the arrest of illegally employed migrant workers is still a Kafkaesque and questionable institute.

The most burning issue for many disadvantaged workers in Israel is pension allocations. Although many of them are entitled to such allocations under collective bargaining agreements, few actually get them. That's why Kav LaOved requested to a join class lawsuit for pension in security and cleaning.

In fact, quite a few small new grassroot organizations of disadvantaged workers recently got media coverage. The highlights include the Weizmann Scientific Research Institute taking reponsibility for its subcontracted security workers, and a new law, which finally orders employers to let cashiers and other workers do their jobs sitting down.

The last item we bring explains the failure of a law meant to prevent labor rights violators access to public tenders. 

This short report documents the experiences of Kav LaOved's Palestinian project manager, Salwa Alinat, concerning the process of empowering Palestinians employed in West Bank Settlements to stand up against exploitation.