The conference followed the right path in 2012 when it adopted
recommendation 202 which specifies the need for social protection floors
at national level over a wide range of spheres.
Israel has
set in practice a number of standard floors in this field: a statutory
minimum wage with enhanced enforcement action, a National Health Law
which fixes a mandatory health basket for every resident, child
allowance, old age pension, unemployment benefit, and income allowance
which is the ultimate safety net for households whose earnings are less
than the minimum level.
I would like to refer to the four
pillars of another important principle in which the International Labor
Organization is taking the lead, the decent work agenda. Concerning job
creation the unemployment rate in Israel is around 5.6%, which is a
relatively low rate.
The labor market is creating jobs at a
reasonable pace but the challenge facing the national economy is that of
dealing with the low rate of participation in the labor market of two
specific sectors - the ultra-orthodox Jewish, and the Arab women.The
programs being offered by the Economy Ministry attempt to provide a
solution to these problems.
Referring to the second pillar,
Rights at Work, Legislation of the Enhancement of Enforcement of the
Labor Laws Law which came into force in June 2012, has brought about a
number of dramatic changes in this sphere: increased administrative
penalties against employers who infringe employees' rights, the widening
of the liability of the actual employer toward the contractor's
employees and a significant increase in the number of inspectors
enforcing the labor laws. The amount of inspectors is at the currently
common rate at the ILO.
It should also be noted in this regard
that collective agreements were signed only recently in the public and
private sectors which mandatorily commit the actual employer on the
question of the working conditions of the contractor's employees in the
cleaning sector. The two agreements raised the wages of these workers
and grant them additional social benefits.
A significant step
of Social Protection, the third pillar, is the revolution that began in
2008 with the establishment of a mandatory occupational pension. Out of
about 3 million persons employed in the national economy, as a result
of that agreement and the issue of an Extension Order applicable to all
employees in the economy, almost 50% employees were added to an
employment-related pension scheme.
Regarding Social Dialogue,
the forth pillar, a significant number of workers became members of
unions. It followed several amendments in the Collective Agreement Law
that enhanced the obligation to conduct collective bargaining.
In 2013, 10% additional employees were incorporated in the private
sector. What is striking clear is that the majority of these employees
have been unionized in sectors where this had never happened previously.
This is testimony to the increased degree of employee's
awareness of the need of collective bargaining in order to safeguarding
and improvement of their labor conditions and employment security.
In this regard it is worth to mention the unique judgment held by the
National Labor Court in the Pelephone Case. The judgment fortified the
autonomy of the trade unions by preventing entirely any interference of
the employer in the sphere of the freedom of association activities.
Mr. President,
Fulfillment of all these goals of Decent Work Agenda will boost the
whole economy and will benefit the employees as well as businesses.