facts sheet - labour and social impacts and occupation

8/4/2019 Facts Sheet - Labour and Social Impacts and Occupation

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The Democracy and Workers Rights Center in PalestineRamallah Al Irsal Street, P.O Box 876 Phone: 02-295 2608 - Fax: 02-295 2908 Email:[email protected]

Gaza Al Naser Street, Phone: 08-2853011 - Fax: 08-2853010 Email:[email protected]

Fact Sheet

Updated: 2 April, 2009

The twenty-two days of the waragainst Gaza left over 1,300 (ofwhom 431 are children and 112 are

women) Palestinians dead and over 5,300 injured (of whom 1,872 are children and 800are women), and caused extensive damage to commercial enterprises, publicinfrastructure and agriculture. Hostilities are also expected to have had substantialemotional and psychological effects on the population. Prior to the war, the humanitariansituation was already serious following an 18-month blockade of the Gaza Strip, where80 percent of the population was already dependent on aid from the United Nations1.Since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza on 18/1/2009, every week Israeli planes and tankshave continued sporadic operations against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

According to PECDAR, the estimated amount of direct loses in the infrastructure;buildings and establishments (industrial, medical, education etc.) reached 1.951 billionUS dollars.

Israeli War

1 OCHA field reports

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Israeli War against Gaza is on-going:

Social and Labour Effects of Israeli Measures in the West Bank and

Gaza Strip
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According to the UN sources (2), the infrastructure associated with the Israeli settlementsconstitutes now almost 40% of the West Bank, including roads, barriers and buffer zones

and military bases. The building of the Apartheid/Separation Wall, additional militarybases, and the construction of new roads linking Israeli settlements has further degradedPalestinian agricultural land. In 2007 alone, the Apartheid/Separation Wall reducedPalestinian land in the West Bank by 15%, and Israeli settlements further reduced WestBank land by 3.3%. In the areas between the Wall and the 1967 border with Israel, whichrepresents 9.8% of the West Bank, Israel has imposed very strict restrictions on theaccess of Palestinian farmers to their land and water resources. Permits to enter gates onthe Apartheid/Separation Wall are granted to less than 20% of farmers, who wereworking on their land located in these areas before the construction of theApartheid/Separation wall.

Over the past seven years Israel has uprooted 1.6 million Palestinian trees, which hasserious implications for climate change, and could further jeopardize Palestinian foodproduction. From 2000 to 2007, Israel has destroyed 2,851 dunums of land, 13,147dunums of vegetables, and 14,076 dunums of Palestinian field crops. Over the course ofthe past five years, the Israeli Occupying Power has destroyed 455 wells, 37,929 dunumsof irrigation networks, 1,070,940 meters of main pipelines, 1,878 of irrigation pools, 930agricultural stores, and 1,862 of animal barns and stables.

In spite of promises, the Israeli Occupying Power is still refusing to remove barriers and

checkpoints on the roads and between cities and villages in the West Bank. The numberof such checkpoints is now 626, registering an increase by 66.5% since August 20053.

2 Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People

and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, October 20083 UN Report No. 85, Implementation of the Agreement on Movement and Access and Update on Gaza Crossings. (04 -

17 Feb 09). www.ochaopt.org

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Food insecurity and Israeli measures :


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Despite adequate water resources, Israeli control over Palestinian watersupplies has resulted in disproportionate usage ratios between Israelis andPalestinians. According to the World Health Organization, the minimumdaily water intake of an individual is 100 liters. Currently, Israeli citizens use an averageof 150 liters a day, in some areas, Israelis consume up to 300 liters a day. Palestinians

exist on 30 to 50 liters a day. Palestinian water consumption has been furthercompromised by the isolation of 26 water wells by the Apartheid/Separation Wall.

The Palestinian National Authority hasimplemented social protection programs,

such as the job creation program for the unemployed, which have been discontinued fromthe beginning of 2006. Once again, the International Labor Organization recently signeda contract with the Ministry of Labor to bring this program into existence. A social safety

program for the poor and needy families is also operating through the Ministry of SocialAffairs. This program is very weak and beneficiaries are receiving small amount ofmoney every three months (333 NIS every month or less a hundred dollars). There arefew other limited programs such as the health insurance program for the unemployed,implemented by the Ministry of Labor, and other programs supporting families ofmartyrs and detained persons. Since 2007, the DEEP program was introduced with twocomponents: lending money to needy families to operate micro-projects and providefinancial social assistance to poor families.

PNA also introduced more similar programs, but it did not implement them. Anunemployment fund has been introduced by the Ministry of Labor, the social insurance

law for the employed persons has been adopted, but canceled without implementation.Lately, the PNA has finished the preparation of a draft law on pension scheme for theprivate sector employees.

There are NGOs in relatively large numbers, which provide assistance to needy people.The major part of such assistance is dependent on the future of external funding. Most ofit is linked to specific programs and specific periods of time, which makes its futureunclear. According to the census of NGOs in 2007, there are 926 Palestinian NGOs thathave aid programs (62% of the total NGOs in Palestine). But the effectiveness of most ofthese institutions is limited, and seasonal in nature, and is linked to the availability offunds. The Zakat committees and the Salah and Islamic Majma Society in Gaza are

having more sustainable assistance programs to poor families.

There are international organizations such as UNRWA and the World Food Program thatprovide in-kind support to refugees and poor families. UNRWA also provides in-cashsupport occasionally. The volume of their operations is also depending on externaldonations.

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Social resistance (social protection) is less now:


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In spite of the crucial efforts to eradicate the hardship of Palestinians life,most of them do not lead to economic security of the people, nor do theyreduce the poverty of the people. Though, they keep people alive.According to PCBS, the humanitarian aid in 2007 reduced the poverty rate by 4% only.Such aid is important when it leads to creation of profitable income generating projects.

According to PCBS estimates(4), more than 57% of households were found to obtain anincome less than the national poverty line in 2007 (of which 45.7% in the West Bank and79.4% in Gaza Strip).

The results of a PCBS survey in 2007 showed also a decrease of 1.6% of poverty rates inthe Palestinian Territory during the year 2007 compared with the year 2006, while itdecreased in the West Bank with a percentage of 13.2% and increased in Gaza Strip witha percentage of 8.1%.

The gap is also widened between the poorest and the richest people. In 2007, the 10%poorest population was consuming 3.4% of the total monthly household consumption,against 4.4% in 2006, (It decreased from 4.3% in 2006 to 3.6% in 2007 in the West Bankand from 4.6% to 3.4% in Gaza Strip for the same period). The results indicated that therichest 10 percent was consuming 26.6% in 2007 against 21.6% in 2006, (It increasedfrom 21.6% in 2006 to 25.9% in 2007 in the West Bank and from 17.2% to 31.8% in

Gaza Strip for the same period)5.

On the other hand, available labor force data indicate that the economic dependency ratein Palestine increased from 4.8 in the third quarter 2000 to approximately 5.6 now.Linking the monthly decline to the average monthly household income (from US $ 644 toUS $ 343 in 2006)6and the increase of the economic dependency rate (from 4.8 to 5.6),shows that individual monthly allocations decreased from 134 US$US to 57 US$ (i.e.from 4.5 US$ to less than US $ 1.9 per day during this period).

The overall unemployment

rate according to the ILOstandards jumped from 10.0% during the 3rd quarter 2000 to 28.3% during the 4thquarter of the same year, then to 31.3% during 2002, leaving approximately one third of

4Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Press release: Poverty and Living Conditions in thePalestinian Territory, 20075Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Press release: Poverty and Living Conditions in thePalestinian Territory, 20076 Nominal exchange rate used: 2600 NIS*4.04 exchange rate in Dec. 2000. 1600 NIS*4.66 exchange rate during Oct.-

Dec.

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Unemployment is a pressing issue since 2000:

Poverty - poverty gaps and living conditions are deteriorating:


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the Palestinian employed persons without proper income. It fluctuatedslightly during the subsequent 2003-2005, the average unemployment rateduring the three years was 25.3%. The same rate continued to prevail moreor less until now, while the number of employed continued to increase due to the highgrowth rate in labor force. If the current economic situation stays the same as it was in

2006, then the number of unemployed will increase one year after another. It willgradually increase by more than 12000 workers in 2009 to 13000 workers in 2011. Bythen, the number of unemployed persons will reach approximately 2660007.

Therefore such a continuous increase in the number of unemployed will leave more than1.5 million Palestinian without proper income8.

The share of full-time employed (working for 35 hours or moreper week) to total participants in the labor force (full- and part-

time workers, workers on short time, workers in poor conditions with low incomes, and

the unemployed) dropped sharply since 2000, from 83.6% in the 3rd quarter of 2000, to66.9% during the 4th quarter of 2000. In 2002, it further dropped to 64.4%, but increasedduring 2003 to 68.2%. Today, this percentage decreased to 66.7% 9. This means that morethan 15% of employed persons became partially employed.

Workers aregoing to the

informal economy as solutions to their unemployment problems. The percentage ofworkers employed outside establishments to the total number of workers in Palestineincreased from 16.6% in 1997, to approximately 35% in 2001-2002, to 38% in 2003 10.The percentage of unpaid family members increased dramatically from 8% before the

Intifada in 1999 to 12% in 2007, while the percentage of employers and wage employeddecreased in the last five years. This reveals the weak absorption capacity of workers inthe Palestinian market, as the categories of self-employment and unpaid employment areconsidered to be not only by-and-large informal employment, but also solutions tounemployment. That means if workers find good paid jobs, less will work as unpaidfamily members or as self-employed, which don not realize individual economic securityas other two categories do.

7Naser Abdel Karim and Hamdi Al-Khawaja. Study on the Feasibility and Requirments for Establishing a Fund forProtection Against Unemployment in the Palestinian Territories. DWRC, 20088 The economic dependency rate in Palestine is approximately 5,6 persons per worker including the worker himself.9 See PCBS, labor force survey results. Various publications.10 Sufyan Dagrah. The Current Situation and Prospects for Structuring the Sector. DWRC. 2008

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Quality of Jobs:

Informal employment is the solution to lack of good jobs


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The percentage of workers in Israel and Israeli settlements11 in the occupied Palestinianterritories, relative to the total participants in the Palestinian labor force, dropped sharplyfrom 22.1% in the third quarter 2000, to 9.1% (44,000 persons) in the 4th quarter 2000.Then, it increased slightly during 2002 to 10.3%, to decrease again to 9.7% (58,000

persons) during 2003. In 2005 the rate was 10% (63000 persons). Today there are only12% employed in the Israeli labor market, all of them are from the West Bank12.

A quarter of the Palestinian workers are employed inthe public

sector. These workers are more job secureand hence enjoy more income security. Butthis was not always the case, in 2006-mid2007 all public employees were unable tosecure their salaries due to Israeli and

international boycott to the Hamas leadGovernment. However the jobs turnover inthe private sector is very prominent. In 2005and 2006, more than 10% of workers in theprivate sector became jobless (approximately70 thousands workers and 83 thousands became jobless in the two years), against

only 5100 and 5300 workers in the public sector, who became jobless (13). During asurvey conducted in the largest industries in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2008, 71%of workers have not signed any written contract with their employers. In the same survey,findings showed that a small number of workers stay for a long time in their current jobs.

The workers who joined their current jobs after the 2000 did not exceed 13% of the totalworkers surveyed14.

11 More or less half of them are holding Israeli ID but living in the West Bank.12 PCBS. Labor force survey results. Various publications.13 See: Naser Abdel Karim and Hamdi Al-Khawaja, Study on the Feasibility and Requirements for

Establishing Fund for Protection against Unemployment in the Palestinian Territories (ExecutiveSummary). Democracy and Workers Rights Center, 2007a

14 Hamdi Al-Khawaja, Workers Rights in Industrial Establishments. DWRC. 2008

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Jobs sustainability:


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The reason behind this view is related partially to the absence of aneffective work inspection and lack of good implementation of labor laws.The political situation and the lack of national policies impacted largely such indicators.

Price inflation registered an accumulated increase by32.5 during the period 1999-2008, while the nominal

average wage for workers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip increased by 15.5% in 2008compared to 1999. The average wage in Palestine remained almost the same in the lastfour years.

Table 1: Average Wages in Palestine during 1999-2008

Year 199

92000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Nominal

average wage

(NIS)

60.6 63.7 64.2 65.1 65 67.1 69.2 74.5 74.4 70*

Source: www.pcbs.gov.ps*Estimated on the basis of the 3 quarters of PCBS labor force survey in 2008

The World Bank estimated overall per capita income to be nearly 40% less than its peakin 1999(15).

In addition to the effects of this imbalance, Palestinian standards of living have beenaffected by the sharp devaluation of the USD and Jordanian Dinars (JD), and their impact

on purchasing power of the 25% of workers, who are being paid in dinars and dollar, and76% of bank USD and JD deposits. The reduction in the exchange rates of the dollar hitthe purchasing power of citizens by 13% in the 30 months prior to a report issued byPECDAR in 2008(16).

In the West Bank, there are currently no provisions for unionorganizing. Approval of unions is currently arbitrary and

politically motivated. If a new union wishes to establish itself, it must appeal to theMinister of Labor, who will decide whether to grant a notice of approval for thedocuments necessary to establish a union, including approval for establishing bank

accounts. In 2007, the Federation of Independent Unions-Palestine (FIUP) was rejectedby the Labor Minister. The reason given was that the FIUP should wait for the release ofthe new labor union law. The PA has shown little progress on this law. Meanwhile, Fatahaligned unions regularly receive approval. In the Palestinian territories, there arecurrently five trade union federations: three are controlled by Fatah, one is an Islamic

15 The World Bank, Economic Developments and Prospects, 200816 Al-Quds daily newspaper, 6/2/2008

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Wages versus Inflation:

Union Organizing:
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federation, and the fifth is a Federation of Independent Unions. There isone in Gaza also, called the Independent Labor Committees Union.

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facts sheet - labour and social impacts and occupation

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