The occasion of the Labor Day or International Workers’ Day is renewed annually to reflect the reality of workers in the world in general.
In Palestine Palestinian workers are suffering from the curse of the occupation its practices attacks and siege.
The Israeli occupation imposes many discriminatory policies in dealing with the rights of workers whether within the entity or the illegal settlements their rights are canceled despite their being global leaving them exposed to daily violations and endangering their lives while they relentlessly seek job opportunities and try to reach their workplaces through Israeli checkpoints or by riding the sea for fishing in order to obtain a livelihood in the Gaza Strip and other inhumane transactions practiced by the occupation against Palestinian workers.
These violations and attacks are manifested in violating the right to life assaulting prosecuting and abusing those workers arresting imposing fines preventing them from reaching their places of work setting up barriers and ambushes shooting subjecting them to searches and inhuman and degrading treatment especially at the checkpoints that bisect the Palestinian territories.
Furthermore Israeli security forces persist in raiding and persecuting Palestinian workers in their workplaces in addition to the denial of their wages by Israeli employers and their exploitation by employing them in dangerous work without the minimum equipment and safety tools and for long working hours and the theft and denial of their compensation not the least of which is the closure of the occupied Palestinian territories by the occupation army and the blockade of the Gaza Strip which leads to the inability of workers to reach their places of work or the arrival of raw materials from the occupying state to Palestinian facilities which leads to the disruption of those facilities; this deprives thousands of Palestinian workers of work.
A recent official report indicated that the number of the unemployed workers in Palestine rose to 372000 in 2021 compared to less than that by about 40000 in 2020.
It also pointed out that the unemployment rate in the West Bank is 16% and in the Gaza Strip 47%.
The number of workers in Palestine last year reached about 1.034 million; 630 thousand in the West Bank 259 thousand in the Gaza Strip and 145 thousand workers in Israel and settlements.
The statistics report indicated that the average daily wage for workers in the private sector in 2021 is about 97 shekels in Palestine (not including workers in Israel and settlements).
Recently the Palestinian Ministry of Labor approved a new law related to the minimum wage which set it at 1880 shekels instead of 1450 shekels per month.
A few days ago the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions warned of the dangerous living conditions in the Gaza Strip.
“We warn of the danger of the intolerable situation in Gaza especially in light of the procrastination of the occupation and its failure to adhere to the understandings that were made with the factions regarding improving the conditions of citizens” said Sami al-Amsi head of the union in the Gaza Strip.
He added “Gaza has been living under the Israeli siege for 16 years in a crime the like of which has not been witnessed in history.”
Al-Amsi continued “The poverty rate in Gaza has reached its highest levels reaching 80 percent among workers while unemployment has reached more than 55 percent.”
He said that the Israeli blockade “disrupted several labor sectors and prevented the entry of raw materials into (Gazan) factories.”
Al-Amsi called on “the competent authorities inside and outside Gaza to assume their responsibilities towards the workers.”
Thousands of Gazans are seeking job opportunities inside the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories in view of the soaring unemployment caused by the Israeli siege imposed on the Strip for nearly 16 years.
