Ref: 79/2008
Date: 02 September 2008
Time: 11:00 GMT
PCHR Concern at ongoing Gaza Strikes
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is concerned over the expansion of strikes by employees across the education sector, as well as ongoing strikes amongst workers in the health sector and other public services in the Gaza Strip. PCHR is concerned about the impact of these ongoing strikes, that threaten the delivery of all public services in the Gaza Strip. Patients, students and other civilians are all being seriously affected by these politically motivated strikes.
On Saturday, 30 August 2008, public sector employees announced the start of an all-out strike in all governmental facilities in the Gaza Strip, in response to a call by the Palestinian Syndicate of Public Employees. Thousands of public sector employees joined the strike. At the beginning of last week, education sector employees launched an open strike in response to a call by the General Union of Palestinian Teachers. This strike was supported by the Government in Ramallah, who threatened to sack those who did not join the strikers, or to deprive them of their salaries. The Government in Gaza subsequently took measures that included arresting dozens of education sector employees, as well as threatening to dismiss those who commit to the strike, who they accused of attempting to destroy the education system in Gaza.
In view of the serious repercussions of the near paralysis of all public service, and the enormous negative impacts on teachers and medical staff, PCHR affirms that:
In view of international work relations, it is alarming that the employer (in this case the Government in Ramallah) supports this strike, compels employees to commit to the strike, and threatens those who do not commit to be dismissed and/or deprived of their salaries. International good work practices demand that employers, either private or public, takes all necessary steps to prevent a strike by their employees.
This exposes the strikes as politically motivated and renders them illegitimate. These strikes are completely politicized actions that lack all economic and social demands, and do not represent the real interests of public sector employees. Instead, these strikes represent severe internal political fragmentation, and the culmination of conflicting acts taken by the two conflicting parties. .
The people who are really paying the price for these politically motivated strikes are the public who need and use the public sector services.
Thousands of civilians are in need of daily healthcare, including those who are critically ill in hospitals and need intensive follow-up public health services.
PCHR finds it very concerning that the parties involved in these strikes have not allocated teams for the delivery of emergency health and sanitation services.
A strike is the biggest protest that employees can use in order to realize a set of demands and interests, and a genuine work strike is never compulsory or coercive. In the case of the strikes in Gaza, employees are being held hostage by threats of dismissal and deprivation of salary. These threats set a dangerous precedent of coercion and force.
The civil service has become the victim of politically motivated official policies that threaten worker’s access to their jobs and their salaries.
Under the modified Civil Service act no. 4 (2005), the Government does not have the right to cut the salary of a civil service employee, except if he or she breaches the law. Therefore all these threats are illegal, and represent arbitrary procedures that severely violate the right of every human being to work and to enjoy an adequate standard of living.
Following the events of June 2007, there were warnings about the serious implications of suspending the services of the General Attorney’s Office, and security services. These warnings were not heeded, and today the same mistakes are being made.
PCHR praises the positions of the medical services in the Gaza Strip and the employees who have refused to commit to the strike, and who have called upon their members to commit to their work for the sake of delivering public services.
PCHR condemns all procedures that have been taken by the security services in the Gaza Strip, including the harassment of dozens of public sector employees as well as arrests. PCHR also calls for the immediate release of all employees who have been arrested for these reasons.
PCHR also calls for urgent dialogue between parties in order to resolve all disputes. The Centre also demands that public sector jobs are distributed and upgraded on the basis of competency and precedence, not political affiliation.
