Arab women want to work - the Government accepts the demands of the rich farmers' lobby to import or bonded workers from Thailand

by Michal Schwartz

The Marker (Haaretz) 25.6.2008

The farmers’ demand to import more foreign workers is done under the excuse that “there is no manpower for agriculture,” yet it seems those in charge of economic policy are in no rush to satisfy this demand. It is about time to put an end to this situation, created by the unrestricted import of foreign workers under enslaving conditions and extreme abuse.

This policy’s severe socioeconomic implications regarding the ability of local workers to find work in sectors “abundant with foreign human resource” has created a dispute between the Ministries of Finance and ITL (Industry, Trade, and Labor), and the Ministry of Agriculture. The dispute broke out during a Knesset gathering, in which both sides exchanged accusations. The question in discussion was who had thwarted the experimental plan to encourage Israelis to work in agriculture. According to the plan, five million shekels have been allocated to support the recruit of Israeli workers for agriculture. The plan was supposed to be approved by the Knesset’s Finance Committee in October 2007, but has never been carried out.

Lately, and simultaneously with these discourses, a committee led by Professor Zvi Eckstein, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel, has delivered a report about “employment of non-Israeli workers,” that advises to reduce the number of foreign workers in agriculture within six years, from 29,000 to 5,000. According to Eckstein, the rate of foreign worker employment in Israel is double the standard in the western world. The Ministry of Agriculture’s position is to increase the number of workers to 44,000. The Ministry does not promote encouragement plans for Israeli workers in agriculture, and, in practice, support the farmers' demands for more cheap labour.

Each and every committee to examine the issue since 1990 has recommended to reduce the number of foreign workers and to replace them with Israeli workers. These recommendations were never implemented. The Government too, has come to decisions that were not realized, for instance: to increase the cost of foreign worker employment in order to make Israeli employment more attractive; to enforce the payment of minimum wage to foreign workers; to allocate 70% of the professional training budget to sectors that nowadays employ foreign workers, so that Israelis would replace them (in agriculture, construction, and nursing).

In practice, the levies on employers have resulted in the increase of payments that the employers now demand of their foreign workers. The professional training budgets are being reduced rather than expanded, and there is no training in the field of agriculture. Meanwhile, it is impossible to enforce the payment of minimum wages since there is no way to supervise foreign workers’ working hours.

Foreign worker employment has a destructive effect on the economy, consisting of damage to agriculture workers’ wagers, and mainly the increase of poverty in Arab society. Despite the Government’s declarations that it will focus on bringing Arab women into the work market, in reality nothing has been done. Since there is no one who would speak for this weakened sector, over 80% of Arab women stay at home.

In contrast to the Government’s impotence, the success of WAC Maan Association in incorporating hundreds of Arab women into organized agricultural work with benefits, shows that Arab women’s unemployment is not predestined. Should the Government wish, thousands of Arab women could be working in agriculture, and become breadwinners. The result: great savings for the economy, elimination of the slave trade, and significant improvement of the household economy.