Protest for the Implementation of the Minimum Wage Law
Taking into account that the Palestinian Cabinet’s decision to instate a minimum wage to deal with price spikes and poverty started being implemented in 2013, and stemming from the belief of the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD) in social change towards building a society based on justice and equality, we are disappointed by the fact that a very high percentage of women are still paid wages below the minimum wage. In 2016, 36.7% of women in the West Bank were paid wages below the minimum wage compared to 12.7% of men, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). This requires additional intervention by the government to tackle this issue and lower the percentage of women receiving unjust pay, particularly in the most affected sectors, such as beauty salons and kindergartens.
In many cases, employers’ non-abidance with paying the minimum wage is accompanied by other violations of women workers’ rights, including depriving them of paid leaves - among them maternity leave-, not paying them for overtime hours, not meeting occupational health and safety standards, and not paying end of service benefits. We believe that implementing the minimum wage law plays an essential role in protecting the human rights of women workers, as a main component in the social protection system.
The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development, in partnership with the Kindergarten and Private Schools Workers’ Union and the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center, invites you to join a protest on Saturday, November 18th, 2017 at 11:00 AM in front of the Palestinian Cabinet in Ramallah, and participate in a peaceful march towards the Martyr Yasser Arafat Square (As-Sa’a Square).
Join us in support of Palestinian women’s rights!
PWWSD