The collapse of the Ramat HaHayal parking garage on Monday, September 5, claimed the lives of five and injured another 23. The makeup of those killed represents the mass of construction workers in recent years – Palestinians from the territories, Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, immigrants from the former Soviet Union and migrant workers.

Vigil by members of the CPI and Hadash protesting the plague of deaths and injuries in the building sector, Nazareth, Saturday, September 10. The posters read, in Hebrew, to the right: “The government of Israel bears responsibility for the tragedies in the construction sector!”; in Arabic to the left: “The lives of workers aren’t cheap.” (photo: Zo HaDerech)

Since the beginning of 2016, 35 construction workers have been killed in worksite accidents throughout Israel. They join the hundreds of deaths in recent years and more than 30,000 injured in work-related accidents during the last five years – according to Haaretz (Lee Yaron, September 9). Based on all the data, the safety situation at construction sites is deteriorating and the number of casualties is soaring.

The Police have announced that preliminary investigations at Ramat HaHayal indicate negligent operation the construction site. Under the cover of a gag order, the public still does not known what the nature of the negligence on site was, but past experience has shown that construction companies attempt to “save” costs related to the training, supervision, and safety of workers.

But responsibility does not stop with the contractors and construction companies. The government and, in particular, the Ministry of Economy do not see to the proper supervision of safety at construction sites. Currently the number of inspectors who are supposed to deal with thousands of construction sites across the country stands at 17. With such meagre governmental supervision, no wonder builders aren’t concerned about neglecting the safety of workers.

Following last week’s disaster, in an urgent meeting held at the Knesset on September 8, chairman of the Joint List, MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash) said: I would like to focus on the reasons for the deaths and injury of construction workers – one of the reasons is the greed of contractors and developers when it comes their profits; another reason is crony capitalism; and the third reason is the incompetence of the government.

“We all know the national and ethnic identities of the victims. Most are Arabs, and the rest are either foreign workers or workers from disadvantaged communities, so no one is interested. J’accuse! I blame the contractors and in particular the government, and demand the establishment of a governmental commission of inquiry; this is a subject that calls out for such a commission of inquiry. Worker’s lives are not worthless!”

MK Dov Henin (Hadash – Joint List) stated during the Labor Committee hearing: “I personally submitted parliamentary queries and motions on the subject, but the minister in charge – the former Minister of the Economy and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – has consistently refrained from attending the plenum, to address the issue and give explanations. Not only has he refrained from attending the Knesset plenum [when the subject is being discussed], but even when parliamentary queries were sent directly sent to him in writing, he delegated other ministers to [appear before the plenum and] answer. A minister of the economy, who doesn’t address questions tied to life itself, sends a message that building accidents are not an important subject.

“The collapse at Ramat HaHayal, like in many other cases, is a product of privatization: No publicly-owned companies were involved in the construction of the parking lot where the disaster occurred, as the Tel Aviv municipality had privatized the construction process. And it is not just that particular municipality, this is a plague endemic throughout the country – everything is privatized and everything is done through building and service contractors, and the one who is selected to do the job is the one who submits the cheapest bid. In this way we reach a situation with consequences which can be predicted in advance. Therefore, the victims of the latest tragedy are also victims of privatization.”

This past weekend the Communist Party of Israel (CPI) and the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) organized vigils around the country to protest against the lawlessness in the construction sector and called for a governmental commission of inquiry to examine the failures in the industry as the number of its victims rises.

The above article appeared in the latest issue of Zo HaDerech, the Hebrew-language weekly paper of the Communist Party of Israel.

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