Palestinian workers strike over new method of salary payment through PA banks

Tens of thousands of Palestinians working in Israel held a strike yesterday to protest against salaries no longer being paid in cash.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Palestinian and Israeli authorities agreed on a more efficient and secure payment method, which will see salaries be paid into bank accounts.

However, Palestinian workers fear that hidden fees and new taxes will be imposed into their wages.

About 200,000 Palestinians cross each day into Israel or settlements built on occupied Palestinian land for work, earning, on average, more than twice as much as those employed by Palestinian State bodies and businesses.

Moreover, most of the workers do not have bank accounts and putting their salaries on the books would create a new revenue source for the financially-strapped Palestinian Authority (PA), while bringing a windfall in service fees for Palestinian banks.

Mohammad Khaseeb, 43, who works at an aluminium factory in Israel, said he and thousands of others were protesting at a decision which he said was reached without taking workers’ views into account.

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“They decided without consulting the Workers’ Union. Either a worker agrees or he loses his work permit,” Khaseeb said.

PA Labour Minister, Nasri Abu Jeish, said the new arrangement was meant to protect workers’ rights and that there was no plan to impose new taxes. “Not a cent will be deducted from the workers,” Abu Jeish said.

Salaries will be paid weekly, with bank fees set at $1 per transfer, according to a number of workers who spoke to Reuters.