A joint report by the Israeli association Kav La'Oved (Workers' Hotline) and The National Labor Committee (Education Fund in Support of Worker and Human Rights In Central America): <http://www.kavlaoved.org.il/en_news060501.asp> May 2001 Hanna Zonan, Director Kav La'Oved/Workers Hotline 17 Peretz st. p.o.b 2319 Tel Aviv 61022, ISRAEL Phone: 03-6883766 National Labor Committee Education Fund in Support of Worker and Human Rights In Central America 275 7th Ave. New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-242-3002 Charles Kernaghan, Director National Labor Committee Phone: 212-242-3002 U.S. Military Again Linked to Sweatshop Labor v The U.S. military is about to award a $40 million contract to a construction company convicted of exploiting Chinese 'guest' workers in Israel. The 'guest' workers are paid less than one half the legal minimum wage, and are being held under conditions of indentured servitude. v Israeli human rights groups are urging the U.S. military to redirect its $40 million contract to a company which respects fundamental human and worker rights, and pays fair and legal wages. _________________________________________________________________________ The U.S. military is about to award a $ 40 million contract to an Israeli construction company, Solel Boneh, which is again under investigation by Israel's Labor and Welfare Ministry for exploiting Chinese 'guest' workers and paying them less than one half of the legal minimum wage in Israel. (On February 22, the Solel Boneh company told the Jerusalem Post newspaper that "it has won a $40 million tender from the U.S. military." Previously, Judge Hanna Ben-Jose of the District Court of Labor in Tel Aviv convicted the Solel Boneh company on November 19, 2000, of illegally underpaying its Chinese 'guest' workers, and fined the company $10,000. The Solel Boneh company had been under investigation since March 1999 when the Labor Ministry submitted an indictment. Under Israeli practice, the fine was considered steep, and according to a Ministry spokesperson "such a high fine" was meant to set a "precedent". The contract about to be awarded to the Solel Boneh company is to build a training base for the Israeli defense forces in the south of Israel, in the Negev. The 'guest' workers are brought to Israel by a Chinese government-run manpower and recruitment agency, Tzingdau, which charges the Chinese workers $2,500 each to secure a two-year work contract in Israel. Such forced payments to secure work are illegal under Israeli law. In November 2000, the Chinese government-operated Tzingdau company was convicted along with Solel Boneh of cheating the workers of their legal wages, and was fined $20,000. Upon their arrival in Israel, the Tzingdau agency immediately confiscates the passports of all the Chinese workers, which is also illegal under Israeli law. The Tzingdau agency also illegally withholds all the workers' wages for the entire two-year period they are in Israel. If a Chinese worker attempts to switch jobs, or for any reason does not successfully complete their two-year contract, he will have forfeited payment of all back wages. The Chinese workers are held in a state of fear, forced to work 10 to 13 hours a day, six days a week. Sick leave is not permitted, and a worker is fined $50 for each workday missed. Worst of all, the Chinese workers are not paid the legal minimum wage in Israel, and in fact, are cheated of over half their legal pay. Nor are the workers paid the legal overtime premium. In one primitive trailer park in Gedera housing dozens of Chinese workers, the workers reported being locked in at night - supposedly to stop them from seeking other work. Commenting on the repressive conditions under which the Chinese workers are held, an Israeli Ministry of Labor spokesperson told the Ha'aretz newspaper on February 6, 2000: "It was difficult to conduct the trial against Solel Boneh since the Chinese workers who came to testify in court saw the (Tzingdau) company's directors and were afraid to do so." Solel Boneh began importing 'guest' workers in 1997 and currently employ over several thousand such foreign workers, including 1,000 people from China. Solel Boneh has a permit to import over 1,000 additional 'guest' workers from China, and is currently bidding on two additional U.S. military contracts, which are part of the Wye River Memorandum. In the Memorandum, the U.S. military agreed to finance the construction of three military bases in Israel. # # # # # # # # # # # The U.S. military should immediately withdraw the contract tender signed with the Solel Boneh company and award the $40 million contract to a company which guarantees respect for human and worker rights, and pays at least the legal minimum wage. This is just the latest incident in which the U.S. military has been found to be exploiting sweatshop labor. In December 2000, the National Labor Committee discovered the U.S. military's Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) producing clothing in Burma in a joint venture with the brutal Burmese military dictators, paying workers just 7 cents an hour. After being exposed, the military immediately pulled out of Burma. AAFES pays workers in Nicaragua just 17 cents for every pair of jeans they sew, which are sold in AAFES's 1,400 retail PX outlets on military bases around the world. In Nicaragua, when the workers at the Taiwanese-owned Chentex plant asked for an 8 cent wage increase, hundreds were fired. Recently the U.S. Army was forced to halt production of its military black berets which were being sewn in eight factories in the south of China, where any worker attempting to defend their rights and organize an independent union will be fired and incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital, force-fed drugs, and given electric shock 'treatment'. Construction Company Exploits Chinese 'Guest' workers After being convicted of cheating its Chinese 'guest' workers of their legal wage on November 17, 2000 in the District Court of Labor in Tel Aviv, Solel Boneh is apparently at it again. Ruth Kahane, legal adviser of the Labor and Welfare Ministry, confirms that Solel Boneh is again under suspicion for violating the rights of its foreign workers and may face another indictment. Solel Boneh Mr. Vardy-Zen Uzi, Chairman of the Board International Ltd. 3 Shalem Street Ramat Gan 52215 Israel Phone: 972 3 630 1630 Fax: 972 3 630 1610 Chinese Government recruitment agency holds workers under conditions of indentured servitude: To date, over 1,000 'guest' workers from China have been provided to the Solel Boneh construction company by the government-run manpower agency, Tzingdau. Solel Boneh has a permit to import 1,000 additional workers from China. Tzingdau's violations of human and worker rights: · Chinese 'guest' workers are charged $2,500 each to purchase a two-year contract to work in Israel. (This is illegal under Israeli law.) · Once in Israel, the Chinese workers' passports are immediately confiscated and held by the Tzingdau agency. (This is also illegal under Israeli law.) · Tsingdau also confiscates and withholds the Chinese workers' wages for the entire two-year period they are in Israel. They will not receive their passports or their wages until they are about to board their return flight to China. (Withholding wages is illegal in Israel.) Also, failure to complete the two-year contract means the Chinese worker forfeits all claim to the back wages owed them. · The Chinese 'guest' workers are not paid the legal minimum wage in Israel, which is $740 a month. Even with working on average 16 ½ hours of overtime each week, the Chinese workers are paid just $450 to $550 per month, which is less than one-half of what they are legally owed. They should be earning at least $1,157.35 a month. Moreover, the Tzingdau agency deducts money for food, lodging, health insurance, income tax and the return airline ticket, leaving the workers with just $280 to $350 in take home pay each month. Some workers reported being paid as little as $160 per month. · Chinese 'guest' workers are forced to work 10 to 13 hours a day, six days a week. The average work week is 59 ½ hours, but it is not uncommon to be forced to work between 69 ½ and 72 hours a week. Some Chinese workers reported working 13 hours a day, six days a week, for six months straight. The workers are not paid the legally mandated overtime premium. · No sick leave is permitted. Workers are fined $50 for each workday missed. · Illegally, workers are not provided their pay slips. · Workers live in fear. The first Chinese workers who approached the Israeli human rights NGO, Kav La'Oved (Workers Hotline), were deported to China. Tzingdau supervisors threaten the Chinese workers not to speak with any human rights groups such as Workers Hotline and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. · Once in Israel, the Chinese workers are totally dependent upon the Tzingdau agency, which not only withholds their passports and wages, but also provides food and lodging. Some groups of workers reported being locked in their housing compound at night. The legal minimum wage in Israel: $3.97 an hour $31.77 a day (8 hours) $170.77 a week (43 hours) $740 a month $8,800 a year The regular workweek in Israel is 43 hours, after which overtime premiums must be paid at a rate of 125 per cent for the first two hours, and 150 percent for all additional overtime hours. Chinese 'guest' workers cheated of over one half of their legal wages: On average, the Chinese laborers were forced to work 10 ½ hours a day five days a week, and 7 hours on Friday. That would total 59 ½ hours per week. However, as pointed out earlier, it was not uncommon to be obligated to work 69 ½ to 72 hours a week. 59 ½ hour workweek: Sunday-Thursday: 10.5 hours Fridays: 7 hours The legal wage the Chinese workers should have received: For the average 59 ½ hour workweek, the Chinese workers should have earned $267.08 per week and $1,157.33 per month. Instead they were illegally paid just $450 to $550, less than one half of what they were rightfully owed. Wages for 59 ½ hours of work including 16.5 hours of overtime: · $3.97 an hour for 43 hours of regular overtime $170.77 · $4.96 an hour for the first two hours of overtime (paid at a 125% premium) $ 9.93 · $5.96 an hour for the remaining 14 ½ hours of overtime (paid at 150 %) $ 86.38 total: $267.08 This would come to $1,157.35 a month, and $13,888.16 a year. The Chinese 'guest' workers were paid just 39 to 48 percent of what they were legally owed / Cheated of $17 million in wages This means that the 1,000 Chinese 'guest' workers employed by Solel Boneh and Tzingdau may be being cheated of nearly $17 million of their legal wages over the course of their two year work contracts. (Legal wage of $1,157.35 per annum - $450 actually paid = $707; $707/year x 2 years = $16,968; $16,968 x 1,000 = nearly $17 million.)
