Workers' Day — with nothing to celebrate

On the occasion of Workers' Day: the reality of workers in Palestine is very painful, despite their role in the struggle across the long decades — a reality lacking any cause for celebration. The following statistics are from the bulletin of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics issued yesterday:

• The number of workers in Palestine is 955,000 — 600,000 in the West Bank, 226,000 in the Gaza Strip, and 125,000 in Israel.
• The overall unemployment rate among those of working age reached 26% — 16% in the West Bank and 47% in the Gaza Strip.
• The average daily wage for workers in Palestine is 88 shekels — 43 shekels in the Gaza Strip governorates and 104 shekels in the West Bank governorates.
• Bethlehem governorate tops the West Bank's unemployment rate at 25%, followed by the governorates of Jenin and Salfit; in the Gaza Strip, Deir al-Balah governorate at 53%, with Rafah governorate second. The lowest unemployment rate in the West Bank governorates is in Jerusalem governorate at 7%, and in North Gaza governorate at 38%.
• Young people aged 19–29 suffer most from the unemployment crisis: unemployment among youth in this age bracket reached 39% — 24% in the West Bank governorates and 67% in the Gaza governorates.
• Some 70,000 wage employees in the private sector work without an employment contract.
• The share of workers in the informal (unregistered) sector and wage employees reached about 62% of all workers. They receive none of the rights of the labour market — no end-of-service gratuity/retirement, no paid annual leave, no paid sick leave.
• Young graduates holding an intermediate diploma or higher suffer most from unemployment among youth: the unemployment rate among them at the national level reached 54% — 36% in the West Bank and 79% in the Gaza Strip.

Workers of every kind in Palestine — skilled and educated alike — need employment policies, social security and retirement, programmes of protection from exploitation, adjustment of wage levels, health insurance, and the rest of their lost and stripped-away rights.