WASHINGTON, (PIC)
Trade unions have accused the Israeli occupation authorities of breaching the international labor law by withholding wages and benefits of more than 200,000 Palestinian workers since October 7, 2023,
The Israeli government stands accused of blatant violations of the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) protection of wages convention, tipping many Palestinians into extreme poverty.
Nine international trade unions filed an official complaint against the Israeli occupation authorities before the ILO on behalf of about 200,000 Palestinian workers.
According to the Associated Press, the complaint demands that the Israeli occupation authorities pay compensation to thousands of Palestinian workers who have not received their wages since the start of the Israeli war of genocide on Gaza on October 7.
The complaint focuses on the violations suffered by Palestinian workers, including delayed payment of wages and the harsh conditions under which they work.
The complaint aims to recover the wages of Palestinian workers who previously worked in 1948 occupied Palestine.
The trade unions behind the complaint represent some 207 million workers across more than 160 countries. They include the Building and Wood Workers’ International, Education International, the IndustriAll Global Union, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Trade Union Confederation, the International Transport Workers’ Federation, the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations, Public Services International, and UNI Global Union. The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development also signed on to the complaint.
According to a legal memorandum on the complaint, the Israeli occupation authorities revoked the work permits of approximately 13,000 Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip to work legally in the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories, following the start of the war on Gaza, leaving these workers with unpaid wages since September 2023.
An additional nearly 200,000 Palestinian workers from the West Bank employed in Israel have not been permitted to enter Israel, and have received no termination notices, according to the memorandum, which argues they are owed wages stipulated by their employment contracts for their previous work and subsequent months.
The unions accuse the Israeli occupation authorities of violating the ILO’s Convention on the Protection of Wages, which was ratified by 100 member states, including Israel in 1959.
The complaint comes in the context of escalating international efforts to improve the conditions of Palestinian workers and hold Israel accountable for the violations committed against them.
According to the ILO, more than 500,000 people have lost their jobs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, exacerbating the already deteriorating economic conditions for Palestinians.
