Last update - 00:00 21/03/2007
Companies who exploit workers banned from government tenders
By Haaretz Service
The Finance Ministry has instructed all government ministries to ban contractor companies that have abused workers' rights from participating in future government tenders.
The new regulation, announced Tuesday by Finance Ministry Accountant General Yaron Zelekha, aims to end the exploitation of workers by contractor companies working with the state.
"We will not agree to any compromise regarding the salaries and social benefits of workers," Zelekha told Zelekha the Haifa Convention for Social Responsibility at Haifa University.
The regulation, formulated by the Accountant-General's Office in coordination with the judicial department at the Finance Ministry, states that contractors who were convicted of abusing workers' rights or were fined by the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry, will not be able to participate in the tenders.
In addition, the regulation requires that the working conditions, including wages and social benefits, are explained to the workers "in an unambiguous manner."
Furthermore, each company's contracts will be have to state that "non-fulfillment of the contractor's obligations regarding workers' rights, as stated in the labor laws, is a violation of the agreement."
Zelekha says that in the last year he has become aware of a corrupt culture, in which contractors promise certain conditions while bidding on government tenders, but knowingly plan to violate labor laws and maltreat their workers once they are awarded the tender.
He listed the damages he said was caused by this corruption, citing the denigration of the law by citizens who have witnessed the connection between criminal activity and the government, the widening of social gaps, the deterioration in the quality of government services and the moral stain left on the fabric of Israeli society.
"The period in which contracts signed by the government were only recommendations and not commitments has passed," Zelekha said.
In order to enforce this new regulation, Zelekha also said that the government ministries will carry out inspections at least once annually, which will include inspections of pay slips, attendance reports, receipts and pensions.