Dear Supporters and Partners-

I and the KLO team hope this finds you well in these difficult times, wherever you may be around the world. We want to take this opportunity not only to update you on our work but, first and foremost, to wish you and your loved ones happy holidays. We truly hope that with the rejuvenation that Spring brings, we will also see things change for the better.

Now more than ever is a time of solidarity among all workers affected by the corona crisis.  Despite the challenges we have faced at KLO, our staff and volunteers continue to assist hundreds of workers. We are supporting workers who have lost their jobs temporarily or permanently, workers whose hours are reduced, those who are required to work from home and those who are required to report to work in person (especially Israeli and migrant caregivers and workers in agriculture and construction).  We see that those most affected in Israeli society are those already at the margins. The crisis has further worsened their situation, especially workers earning low wages with few labor rights protections and workers from disadvantaged groups.  Refugees and Palestinians who lost their livelihoods are not entitled to benefits at all, and this crisis has deepened their poverty and distress.
 
We have transferred services to an online format to keep all our lines of assistance open. Time and again we have heard from workers that our support is a reminder that someone is thinking of them, making sure they are okay, and providing the information they need to orient themselves in this tumultuous time. Our efforts include:
 
Sharing and Dissemination of Information We publish information and guidance on updated government regulations and guidelines during the corona crisis in more than eight languages to ensure that workers have the information needed to protect their health and safety as well as understand their labor rights at this time.

Protecting Labor Rights We are assisting those who have lost their jobs to access benefits for which they are eligible. We are partnering with Physicians for Human Rights to ensure that migrant workers and refugees and asylum seekers have access to health insurance if they lose employment. And we are supporting those still working, particularly those deemed “essential” in the current crisis, to safeguard their rights, especially regarding health and safety.
Creating a Social Safety Net We are promoting policies relevant to workers across sectors and aim to lay a strong foundation for protecting the most vulnerable workers in the crisis. KLO has participated in government roundtables, issued policy statements and written letters to Ministries of Labor, Interior, Health, PIBA, and Finance to ensure that the issues workers are raising with us daily reach the highest levels of decision making. Together with other civil society actors, we are partners in a coalition to promote a safety net for workers in Israel.

A few words about our financial situation. As we noted in our past update, we were greatly affected by the elimination of our Ministry of Labor grant for phone and online support and, since then, the Ministry has confirmed definitively they will not be awarding funds this year. Due to the crisis, we have also been unable to maintain our self-generated income (about 25% of our operating budget) as we are not providing in-person services. We have prepared an emergency budget and are working to ensure that all of KLO’s programs
 
continue running during this crisis. We have been touched by the generous support of all those individual donors and foundations who have reached out to help. Your generosity has been uplifting. We continue to raise funds and are grateful for any support as we work to address this crisis and continue protecting the rights of workers. You may donate to KLO through this link.
 
Best,
 
Adi Maoz, Director

 

Sector Specific Updates

For those interested in more sector-specific initiatives, we have included short updates below. You may also link to them directly from here: Israelis, Refugees, Palestinians, Caregivers, and Thai Agricultural Workers.
 

Israeli Workers have shown a sharp spike in need—more than double—in the current situation. Many of these workers face language barriers or find it difficult to understand what benefits they are eligible for and how to access them—especially unemployment benefits. Through phone calls and emails, KLO’s team is sending the exact forms these workers need to fill out and guiding them through the questions they need to answer. As the start of the crisis, we also advocated that Israeli workers required to be in quarantine not have to use their sick leave days in the event they may need these days later if they do become ill. KLO continues to follow conditions of safety in the construction sector, tracking accidents and monitoring for instances in the deterioration of safety enforcement. In particular, we are advocating for better protections for construction workers who have been deemed “essential” workers amidst the corona situation. Many are mandated to now work 14 hour days and have little health protections against the virus. 

Refugees and Asylum Seekers work in sectors most hard hit by the crisis, such as restaurants and hotels, and have lost their jobs. They are ineligible for government social safety net programs. Even more, requirements of the Deposit Law have meant that 20% of their salaries as well as benefits payments (such as severance pay) are locked in deposit accounts they cannot access unless they leave the county. KLO is leading a coalition of NGOs to advocate for the government to return the deposit fund money to them now and, so far, the government has only put forth an insufficient plan to allow them to withdraw up to 2700 ILS. We have appealed this decision with the Ministry of the Interior and advocated for workers to be given their full rights. In the meantime, KLO is helping refugees understand their situation and advocating with employers to pay owed wages and benefits in cases where this is possible. We are also checking to see what immediate help refugees may need in terms of food, medicine or other immediate needs and referring them to NGOs providing such services to build as much of a safety net as we can for them. Since it appears that workers will be given some access to their deposit funds, KLO is also gearing up to provide assistance to workers in accessing these funds. The requirements for submitting applications seem to be multi-layered, which means that the community will need a great deal of support in navigating the process. 

Palestinian Workers employed in Israel have also found themselves without a safety net during the corona crisis. They are ineligible for unemployment and other benefits. In addition, early in the corona crisis several sectors employing Palestinians were deemed “essential”—particularly construction and agriculture—and workers were required to relocate to Israel to live at work sites for one – two months. They faced poor housing conditions, little if any protection of their health and long works hours with almost no oversight of their labor rights. KLO is providing online support for these workers, handling more than 30 calls a day, to address their concerns. At the policy level, KLO has led several initiatives.
 
We demanded that Palestinians working in Israel be made eligible for healthcare, which was approved. We continue to advocate that those not working be compensated via PIBA’s sick leave fund for Palestinians, which has accumulated over 515 million ILS in unused benefits. We continue to assess whether or not Palestinian workers have been provided with adequate and sanitary housing conditions per labor law regulations. KLO has also provided phone and online support to Palestinians in East Jerusalem who were also very hard hit by the crisis, assisting them in applying for benefits and providing updated information on regulations and policies relevant to them.
 

Caregivers are on the frontlines in protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19—the elderly and the sick. We are assisting caregivers daily with updated information on regulations and policies for managing the health of those in their care as well their own health in these difficult times. We are also helping them manage their visa situations (which is tied to employment status), whether they were abroad visiting home when the crisis escalated or here in Israel. We are helping both documented and undocumented workers. We have successfully advocated with the Ministry of the Interior and PIBA to introduce regulations that allow greater flexibility in visa regulations for caregivers at this time and are following up with several embassies and community leaders as well to assist in supporting caregivers. We also continue our usual services, helping caregivers calculate their rights and address complaints in five languages. Caregivers are even more isolated now and dealing with increased stress among those they care for, so we are on the alert for any instances of abuse such as sexual or physical assault requiring intervention. You can read one caregiver’s account of what life has been like during the corona outbreak here.
 

Thai Agricultural Workers continue working during the COVID-19 crisis as agriculture is considered an essential activity, but have few health protections. Several Thai workers have called KLO, concerned they may have virus symptoms, but are afraid to tell their employers or have found them unresponsive. KLO advocates to ensure these workers receive health checks by doctors. At the start of the crisis, we surveyed Thai workers about the prevalence of government-mandated health checks on the job and 96% of Thai workers reported these checks are were not taking place so we requested that PIBA up with employers on this issue. The regulations since changed and now the responsibility falls on workers—we will continue to monitor the situation. Thai workers are also asking what to do when they have not been paid and about travel restrictions that prevent them from returning home even when their official work period in Israel is done. In addition, some farmers impacted by the economic crisis are transferring their workers to other farms for employment, which creates more uncertainty and risk for labor rights violations. KLO is also exploring housing conditions as some Palestinian workers are now required to remain in Israel instead of returning home to the West Bank in the evenings, which can lead to further deterioration of housing conditions that were already crowded and unsanitary to begin with. This situation keeps changing as many Palestinians will return home during the Passover holiday in Israel. We will continue looking into the situation.