The cabinet is expected to approve on Sunday a proposal backed by Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon to import tens of thousands of construction workers from China without any agreement between the countries. The decision is likely to be taken because Ministry of Finance housing chief Avigdor Yitzhaki successfully overcame opposition from the Ministry of Justice. Deputy Attorney General (Legislation) Adv. Orit Koren opposed the decision out of concern that mass importing of Chinese workers without an agreement between Israel and China would allow severe violations of the Chinese workers' rights, and encourage corruption.
Yitzhaki plans to import 20,000 workers initially, and to increase the number to 40,000. The workers will be employed in housing, transportation, and infrastructure projects. He argues that without a massive import of Chinese workers, the number of apartments built in Israel cannot be increased beyond 40,000 a year, and without a dramatic rise in the number of apartments, real estate prices will not fall. According to the proposal slated for cabinet consideration, 50% of the foreign workers in the project will be employed in residential construction in the framework of the buyer fixed-price program.
Employment of the rest of the Chinese workers in other sectors will be permitted, including construction of IDF camps, transportation infrastructure, and ports. An estimated 3,000 Chinese workers, who arrived several years ago before the government decided to halt the unregulated import of workers, currently work in Israel. It is believed that each worker paid $30,000 to intermediaries in China for the opportunity to work five years in Israel. A probe by the Ministry of Finance housing staff showed the Chinese workers in Israel were organized in work groups with Chinese managers. The Chinese groups specialize in flooring, and are committed to high productivity in exchange for a salary of NIS 25,000 for each worker.
In order to meet this commitment, the Chinese must work under conditions of virtual slavery, in contravention of Israeli labor laws. The Chinese refuse to do wet work (building frames and concrete), because it is difficult to increase productivity in this work. Employment of Chinese workers in Israel has previously aroused severe criticism by international agencies, leading to Israel's placement on a blacklist of countries violating human rights. For example, a 2003 US State Department Report stated, "Persons in search of work are trafficked into situations of coerced labor," noting that some of the foreign workers were held in Israel in violation of their basic rights, deprived of their passports, subjected to threats and intimidation, deprived of their wages, and had their freedom of movement restricted. Minister of the Economy Aryeh Deri also expressed strong opposition to the measure, among other things because it breaches the framework of bilateral agreements for importation of foreign workers. In a letter, Deri argues that these agreements "are the best way of bringing foreign workers into the economy, because they protect their rights and prevent demands for illegal mediation fees.
"Past experience has shown that Israel is unable to supervise and prevent mediation fees, and bilateral agreements were instituted for this purpose." Deri also opposed using the foreign workers in the project for transferring IDF bases to the Negev in violation of a 2001 cabinet decision banning the employment of foreign workers in government and security projects.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 17, 2015
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