TEL AVIV—Israel’s National Labor Federation filed a request last week with the Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court for a temporary and urgent injunction to prevent the immediate dismissal of 322 employees of Longxin Construction, a Chinese company operating in Israel and around the world in the residential construction industry.
According to the company, it has permits to employ 875 workers, but in reality, it currently employs only about 550. In the request, the National Labor Federation states that it has received inquiries from workers at the company, according to which widespread immediate layoffs are planned—without a reason being given.
Chinese construction companies have been operating in Israel since 2017. Some of them employ workers on projects in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory.
The workers at Longxin, who got no answers from the company’s management, applied to organize a union in order to stop the planned wave of layoffs. According to the National Federation of Labor, it managed to organize more than a third of the employees and announced demonstrations.
The federation contacted the company’s management, which confirmed that it intends to lay off 322 employees by the end of the month.
According to the company, the layoffs were due to the reduction in the number of worker permits it has from the Population and Immigration Authority. It was further noted that the company “has no claim against the employees, and that this is not a step resulting from economic hardship or a shortage of work.”
In the request, filed by the director of the legal department at the National Labor Federation, Attorney Ran Confino, it was claimed that the immediate dismissals would force the workers to leave the country or become illegal residents, at a time when the construction industry in Israel is suffering from a severe shortage of professional manpower.
Part of that shortage is due to the Israeli government blockading the Palestinian territories and refusing to allow workers to cross the military’s checkpoints.
At the recommendation of the court, the parties reached an agreement that the National Federation of Labor and Longxin Consturction would contact the Population Authority in order to find a solution that would minimize the harm to the workers.
Still to be adjudicated is the company’s claim that “hundreds of workers have abandoned it” already, meaning they quit their jobs, so it, as the employer, is no longer liable for any economic hardships they experience.
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