New report by The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants and Kav LaOved – A MEANS TO AN END
A MEANS TO AN END – Violation of Labor Rights by Foreign Contracting Companies in Israel
Over the past 20 years, HRM representatives have collected dozens of testimonies from Turkish construction workers who left the Yilmazlar Construction Group. Although the testimonies were gathered from eight different groups of workers who did not know each other, arrived in Israel at different times and were from various regions of Turkey, the testimonies concerning their employment conditions were almost identical.
They included complaints about lower pay than promised, harsh working conditions that violate Israeli labor laws, a ban on the use of cell phones (initially even outside of working hours), being prevented from leaving the locked residential area after working hours, forcing employees to sign promissory notes, threats to actualize the promissory notes and deport the worker from Israel.
Over the years, HRM and Kav LaOved have turned to State authorities through multiple channels with the aim of protecting the rights of the company’s workers, but without success. Workers who wish to leave the company due to abusive employment conditions are deported from Israel before they are able to receive redress.
The report sheds light on the human rights abuses of migrant workers bound to foreign contracting firms, as is the case with employees of Yilmazlar. The report also seeks to document the failure of Israeli authorities to protect these workers for the past two decades and offer solutions that would put a stop to this ongoing injustice and ensure the protection of the migrant workers’ rights.
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