A new agreement between the Government of Thailand and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reduces the commissions that Thai workers will have to pay on coming to Israel.

The good is the enemy of the best

On September 23, 2007 Haaretz reported that the government of Thailand has signed an agreement with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), reducing the commissions Thai workers must pay to personnel companies in order to work in Israel. Until now they have had to come up with a whopping $8000; from now on the cost will only be $1800. The implementation of the cut is to be supervised by the Thai government and the IOM. The General Director of the Prime Minister's Office in Israel, Raanan Dinur, and the Israeli ambassador in Bangkok, Yael Rubinstein, closely followed the process leading to the agreement, although Israel is not a signatory.

This is, without a doubt, an important step. To the extent that the accord is implemented, it will reduce the exploitation of foreign workers by the personnel companies. But that is only one side of the coin. The other side concerns the exploitation of Thai workers in Israel, and this goes on as before. Israeli employers pay these workers an off-the-books wage of about 13 shekels per hour (that is, they work them overtime without pay), compared to the legal minimum of almost 20 shekels ($5). They get no social benefits.

Here is labor power that is cheap, available and frighteningly flexible. Its presence creates unfair competition where local workers are concerned, blocking them from jobs in agriculture. Especially affected are Arab women, who traditionally worked in this branch and who today cannot find a livelihood. It is no secret that poverty in Israel is mainly Arab poverty. The basic reason is the lack of jobs, especially for Arab women, 83% of whom are not employed.

The Workers Advice Center (WAC) has been placing Arab workers in agricultural jobs for three years now, at the legal minimum wage and with full social benefits. We mobilize them, persuade the farmers to hire them and press the government to stop permitting the importation of unorganized, easily exploitable workers from abroad. The reserve of local workers is large, but our success is limited because of the government's irresolute policy. There are plenty of Arab women today who want jobs, if only to yank their families out of poverty – and away from dependence on welfare checks. In the interests of society and economic logic, the government should give them priority in job-placement, but instead it slams the door in their faces.

The fact that Israel closely followed the birth of the new agreement is evidence that the government knows it must take action against the huge increase, during the last 15 years, in poverty and unemployment. But the new step is not enough. The powerful farmers' lobby, which has grown fat on the labor of 26,000 cheap Thai workers, blocks the government from closing the skies to the importation of more – blocks it, that is, from opening jobs for local Arabs. Instead, the government chooses to lower the cost of coming here to work. It thus conveys the message that Thai labor power, exploitable and cheap, will continue to be an integral part of the Israeli economy, while the Arabs remain poor and unemployed.

For additional details, please call Asma Agbarieh at 050-4330037.