The Palestinian Basic Law includes a catalogue of main principles related to social rights which constitutes the basis for prospective legislation. As far as social rights are concerned, there are many basic important rules. Article 25 of the Basic Law states:
1. Work is a right, duty and honour. The Palestinian National Authority shall strive to provide it to any individual capable of performing it.
2. Work relations shall be organised in a manner which guarantees justice and provides security, health, and social insurance to all workers.
3. Organization of unions and guilds is a right which shall be regulated by law.
4. The right to conduct a strike shall be exercised within the limits of the law.
In the same manner, the Basic Law lays down the basis for a social security system in Article 22 which gives much attention to the welfare of families of martyrs, prisoners of war, the injured, and the disabled during the Palestinian search for freedom and self-determination. The Basic Law also contains a provision relating to motherhood and children’s rights. Under Article 29, maternity and childhood welfare are a national duty.
The efforts to reform the social laws started with the inauguration of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and intensified with the inception of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Accordingly, numerous sessions and meetings were held to discuss reform of the labour law and the need to regulate social welfare.
On March 8th, 1998, after pressure from labour unions, the PLC Commission of Educational and Social Affairs introduced the first labour draft law to the PLC. The draft law sparked off special attention from Palestinian labour unions and NGOs. It was approved by the PLC in the third reading on March 29th, 2000, and it was transmitted to the President for promulgation on April 4th, 2000. The President signed it on April 30th, 2000, but it was not published in the Official Gazette until November 11th, 2001.
[1] The draft law had to wait a long period of time before it was signed and published. The main reason was the Palestinian businessmen were hostile to the new law. The labour law is designed to protect the interests of the two parties in labour contract, in accordance with international standards contained in the Conventions of the International Labour Organization and the Arab Labour organization.
[2] Moreover, it contains important rules to regulate the rights of children and female workers.
The Labour Law includes a number of articles that define the legal rules pertaining to workers and their relation with employers. These rules set forth a framework of such a relation both on the individual level through the individual work contract and on the collective level in the collective work contracts.
The PA also promulgated a new law called “Rights of the Handicapped Law (No. 4) of 1999”
[3] to regulate all aspects connected to people with special needs. This law is highly developed and provides the latter with substantial protection and rehabilitation in the society. The law grants them tax and customs exemptions, and the ministries have to adjust their work to meet those people’s special needs for facilities in education, work, transport and telecommunication.
Another important draft law was introduced to the PLC pertaining to social legislation. It was the draft Law of Social Insurances, which was promulgated on October 19th, 2003.
[4]It is worth mentioning that there are still several draft laws waiting before the PLC, such as the draft Insurance against Unemployment Law, the draft Social Security Law, the draft Social Care Law, the draft Youth Care Law.
Although the Labour Law was promulgated a long time ago, a number of provisions constitute legal gaps that must be handled so that the law can function in a better manner. Such provisions must also be tackled in order to cover as well as regulate labour relations in an integrated and equitable manner, preserving rights of all parties to labour contracts. In addition, the nature of the legal criterion defining labour relations is still obscure. According to the provisions of this law, a number of categories of labours are also excluded from enforcement. Furthermore, some other relations are still not wholly regulated, including workers under probation, vocational and professional training.
Finalise developing secondary legislation necessary for implementing the Labour Law
Even though the majority of secondary legislation necessary for the enforcement of the Labour Law No. (7) of 2000 were promulgated, a number of other items of legislation have not. For example, secondary legislation regulating the training contract, work of house maids, etc. has not yet been enacted.
Draft Law on the Formation of Labour Courts
It is acknowledged that labour courts should have their own particularity in terms of formation and jurisdiction. Since labour cases are urgent, labour courts should have their own litigation proceedings. In fact, Palestinian laws provide for the formation of labour courts. Therefore, a special legal regulation must be in place to regulate such courts.
There are no provisions under the Palestinian Labour Law and the Law of the Formation of Regular Courts indicating the existence of specialized labour courts. The formation of specialized labour courts that adjudicate labour disputes in particular will make it easy for workers to obtain their rights. At the same time, these courts will facilitate the operation of enterprises in terms of expediting examination of disputes arising with workers. In addition, a specialized court with a broad experience in workers’ affairs will have jurisdiction to adjudicate labour disputes.
The Law on Unions
Following the approval of the Labour Law No. (7) of 2000 (which has repealed the Jordanian Labour Law No. (21) of 1960 and amended Law No. (2) of 1965 that were in force in the West Bank) unions in Palestine have become to witness a legal vacuum. In one aspect, several unions have been created without being officially registered. More significantly, many provisions under the Palestinian Labour Law necessitate the creation of a strong and reliable union representation in order to implement them.
Furthermore, multiple authorities governing unions’ function contribute to downgrading the role of these unions. Three types of unions fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labour: Labour Unions, Employers’ Unions and Mediatory Unions. These include laboratory medicine unions, X-ray and dental technicians, nurses, pharmacist assistants as well as natural and functional therapists. Both unions of workers and employers suffer from the problem of multiple authorities, including the General Union of Employers, Federation of the Chambers of Commerce, Coordination Council of the Private Sector, etc.
[1] Palestine Gazette (Palestinian National Authority) issue 39 of November 25th, 2001, at 7.
[2] Examples of such conventions of the international Labour Organization are C183 Maternity Protection Convention (2000); C167 Safety and Health in Construction Convention (1988); C138 Minimum Age Convention (1973); C131 Minimum Wage Fixing Convention (1970).
[3] Palestine Gazette (Palestinian National Authority) issue 30 of October 10th, 1999, at 36.
[4] Palestine Gazette (Palestinian National Authority) issue 48 of January 29th, 2004, at 7.
