Israel: Arab, Jewish Women Workers Unite in Day Care Fight

ISRAEL, November 2 — Arab and Jewish women day-care workers are showing multi-racial unity by battling against their extreme sexist exploitation. While some are fighting only for a wage increase, others are also demanding direct employment with full wages and benefits, as well as for an end to their demeaning working conditions.

Day-care workers are employed through a kind of a scam. They’re considered “freelancers” and thus ineligible for a minimum wage and legal benefits. But the bosses treat them as employees. While they earn about $1,500-$2,000 a month and work far more than 50 hours a week, they’re forced to pay operational costs out of their own pockets, so their net wage is usually below $1,000. Their bosses constantly bombard them with increasingly irrational and expensive demands disguised as “safety regulations” but actually amount to wage-cuts.

Last July, more than 700 day-care workers from throughout the country rallied in front of the ministry of employment, commerce and industry in Jerusalem, fueling their struggle with great enthusiasm and energy. (There are about 2,400 day-care workers in this status; more than 1,000 are unionized).

After this successful demonstration, which displayed the workers’ strength, the government offered them a 4% annual wage increase, eventually totaling about 10%, as well as a pension arrangement and the formation of a trilateral forum. It will decide day-care system policy, including representatives of the workers, the government and the employing NGO’s.

It was pretty clear that the union leadership wanted and supported the government’s proposal, but the rank and file rejected it because it did not answer their needs. The proposed wage increase will start from an extremely low level since they’re considered to be “freelancers” and thus not eligible for minimum wage and benefits. The offered wage increase will not be a significant change in their current situation; it won’t even raise their salary above the minimum wage.

The workers also suspect that the ministries of finance and employment, commerce and industry will try to trick them, like the ministry of finance did when it simply ignored agreements with the students’ union.

Day-care workers must rely on their own unity and militancy to continue their struggle to win better conditions and make the bosses pay. But as long as the Israeli government and the capitalist system it defends holds power, any gains workers win can be taken back.

The unity of Arab and Jewish day-care workers is a beacon of the anti-racist and anti-sexist unity that’s needed to build a revolutionary movement to end the exploitation of all workers in the Middle East.