Arab women - the most exploited group in Israeli workforce - Haaretz

Subscribe to Print Edition

Tue., February 19, 2008 Adar1 13, 5768

Israel Time: 12:40 (EST+7)

web haaretz.com

Back to Homepage

Rosner's Domain

Diplomacy

Defense

Jewish World

Opinion

National

Print Edition

Advertising

Books

Arts & Leisure

Business

Real Estate

Easy Start

Travel

Week's End

Anglo File

Last update - 11:49 01/02/2008

Arab women - the most exploited group in Israeli workforce

By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: women, Israel, workforce

There is someone in Israel more exploited than the migrant workers or janitorial staff and it is Arab women. For instance, N.A., a 20-year-old from the Nazareth area, got a job in a bakery upon finishing high school. Morning shifts were eight hours, night shifts were six hours. But no matter how many shifts she worked, at the end of every week, N.A. got the equivalent of NIS 60 per day in cash or something between NIS 7.5 and NIS 10 per hour. The legal minimum wage was NIS 19.25.

A few months later, she found a job that seemed better: As a salesclerk in a housewares and gifts store, she made NIS 2,000 a month. But when she did the math - 10 hours a day, usually six days a week, she realized she wasn't making much more per hour than she had at the bakery. Sometimes she was paid by check and sometimes in cash. Her pay stub said she worked four hours a day.

S

	Advertisement

he recently got a job at a large foodstuffs factory where she makes minimum wage and gets legally-required benefits. "This is great," she says.

N.A.'s mother and sister are part of a grassroots organization established last year by Nazareth-area community empowerment group Yedid to fight for Arab women's wages. A survey of city businessowners indicated that saleswomen and office workers were generally paid NIS 6-8 per hour. The grassroots organization and feminist organization Kayan are involved in a public campaign to reduce the phenomenon.

Industry, Trade and Employment Ministry researchers announced this week that just 22 percent of Arab women in Israel participate in the workforce. In contrast, 71 percent of Jewish women participate in the workforce. The researchers also found that 51 percent make minimum wage or less and their salaries average 47 percent of their Jewish counterparts' wages. This average also includes teachers salaries, without which the gap would be substantially larger.

The research also indicated unemployment among Arab women stood at 17 percent, compared to 8 percent among Jewish women. Eighteen percent of Arab women in part-time employment seek to increase the scope of their jobs, compared to 7.5 percent of Jewish women. According to Trade Ministry official Benny Pfefferman, about one quarter of the Arab women not participating in the workforce hold high-school diplomas or college degrees.

Bookmark to del.icio.us


	Artistic justice
	Israel Museum to exhibit art looted by Nazis and unclaimed.


	Let in snow
	For second time this winter, Jerusalem braces for snow.




1.	No! Never! Israel has respect for all women.	07:11	\|	Maureen Ann	01/02/08

2.	# 1 Bakery Owner	09:16	\|	Gil J. Yashar	01/02/08

3.	Who are the employers?	09:35	\|	Slibovitz	01/02/08

4.	racism again	09:55	\|	Sarah	01/02/08

5.	Sarah&Mauren Ann,it`s your beloved pals who exploit	10:19	\|	Absolute Sweden	01/02/08

6.	Still better than in Arab world	10:43	\|	Edmond Danijean	01/02/08

7.	Who needs the details? Not Sarah or Maureen	11:08	\|	Awake	01/02/08

8.	So are Israeli women!!	11:55	\|	De	01/02/08

9.	Unclear, incomplete article	13:06	\|	Nik Miller	01/02/08

10.	Unclear, incomplete article	13:06	\|	Nik Miller	01/02/08

11.	# 1 Maureen Ann....women in the work force	14:00	\|	Lynn	01/02/08

12.	#1 Maureen Anne -exactly this is the case	14:10	\|	Zelkha	01/02/08

13.	#1 Maureen Anne (part 2)	14:18	\|	Zelkha	01/02/08

14.	IT`S A MANS WORLD AFTER ALL	15:00	\|	Petra	01/02/08

15.	#5+#10	16:32	\|	nina	01/02/08

16.	So are Filipino women working like slaves in Israel	16:57	\|	Sara	01/02/08

17.	Petra,Say it right;it`s a jewish tradition	18:01	\|	Zaki	01/02/08

18.	End talkbacks	12:28	\|	DK	19/02/08

Today Online


	Fayyad: Israel-PA talks too slow for peace deal in 2008
	Responses: 33


	Lebanon tense amid specter of fresh Israel-Hezbollah fighting
	Responses: 47


	German intellectuals: Israel's creation made Palestinians victims of the Nazi Holocaust
	Responses: 47


	Meron Benvenisti: The demographic bomb is 1-2 years away
	Responses: 6


	Yoel Marcus: Better to keep tabs on terrorists than to kill them
	Responses: 3

Rosner's Domain

Brzezinski didn't show up (WTR)

How would Obama handle Israel? Ex-advisors offer clues

Clinton's peace team: the attacks on Rob Malley "vicious" (WTR)

Most blatant example of Israeli interference in American election

The U.S. and Mughniyah / Not just 'who' but also 'where'

More Headlines
12:38 Fayyad: Progress in peace talks too slow for deal in 2008


11:25 Lawyer jailed for fraud in dealing with Jews' pensions in Germany


12:10 Report: Syria to present progress in Mughniyah killing probe within days


10:14 Snowstorm blankets Golan, Jerusalem area for third time this year


10:49 Ailing Fidel Castro resigns as Cuban president after 49 years


11:03 Police investigating attack on L.A. Jewish center as hate crime


11:34 IDF troops kill armed Palestinian assailant on border with central Gaza


09:33 Lebanon tensions grow amid specter of renewed Israel-Hezbollah fighting


09:20 WZO: Israeli Arabs should enjoy cultural autonomy, equal funds


11:15 Pakistan opposition scores crushing victory in parliamentary election


11:23 Russian Jews to fight aging population with birth grants


09:23 MKs urge U.S. to spend more on missile, rocket defense system


09:25 Israel blocking Gaza kids from joining parents in Ramallah