Avenue, a restaurant located in the Al-Masyoun area of Ramallah, is where Alaa Abu Daqqa used to be employed, that is until the owners suddenly decided to stop paying him his salary. Alaa arrived from Egypt more than 2 years ago after one of the restaurant owners made special arrangements for him to come to Ramallah specifically for the purpose of managing Avenue restaurant. But only a month into the job, Alaa started to realize that the promise of a 3,000 NIS monthly salary and paid housing might have been too good to be true. While the owners did end up paying for housing, they neglected to pay Alaa his full salary for the first five months of employment and were able to get away with only paying him a few hundred shekels here and there.

After five months, Alaa finally began receiving his full salary but, unfortunately, it was not for long. After the owners returned to giving him arbitrary and inconsistent payments, Alaa finally made the decision to resign in May 2009. Resignation was a more than a difficult decision, it was also a big risk for Alaa because at the time, he did not have another job lined up and, more importantly, the owners had threatened to send him back to Gaza -- where he is originally from. Without special permission, Gaza residents are not able to visit, much less live, in the West Bank so the threat of having to go back to Gaza meant that Alaa might not be able to come back to Ramallah. Fortunately for him, the threat never amounted to action and he was able to resign without being deported. He was not, however, able to collect the remaining amount of money owed to him by the restaurant. The outstanding balance owed to him comes to 10,000 NIS.

When Alaa demanded his remaining salary, the owners tried to negotiate by offering to give him 2,000 NIS and asking him to sign an agreement stating he would not seek any further compensation in the future. Not willing to take an 8,000 NIS loss, Alaa refused. Soon after, Alaa came to the DWRC and worked with Mohammad Amarneh, one of the lawyers here, to officially open a case in his name to begin the process of documenting the injustice.

Alaa Abu Daqqa (left) seeking legal consultation from DWRC lawyer Mohammad Amarneh (right)

Alaa Abu Daqqa (left) seeking legal consultation from DWRC lawyer Mohammad Amarneh (right)

It is not likely that the case will be resolved anytime soon, especially as the restaurant continues to deal with its own issues of debt; however, when asked why he decided to pursue his case despite the gloomy outlook, Alaa replied by saying that regardless of the outcome it was important to him to make sure that what happened is documented and that action in some form, is taken.

After several attempts at trying to schedule an interview with Baseme Bashir, I was finally successful and it was apparent within the first ten minutes of the interview that the wait was certainly worth it. As Baseme began telling me her incredible story, her drive and dedication to achieving justice not only for herself, but for those that are also in a similar situation, became apparent.

Baseme Bashir first came to the DWRC after her position as a Program Manager at a well known hydrology company decided to cut her job from full-time to part-time while she was away on vacation claiming it was for budget purposes. Baseme responded by attempting to set up a meeting with the company to negotiate the decision upon her return, but to no avail. Mrs. Bashir worked for Palestinian Hydrology Group for over 6 years and brought with her a wealth of education including a BA in civil engineering, an MA in water engineering and she is also currently seeking her MBA all from Bir Zeit University.

A well established water expert since 1994, Baseme refused to take the decision by her company as final and decided to take matters into her own hands through seeking legal advice. And although she is not hopeful that the organization will reverse its decision anytime soon, she states that it is no longer about her position but rather about fighting the overall injustice that took place both in her case and in other similar cases as well.

Baseme continues to stand as a pillar of strength for Palestinian women, particularly those in the professional sector and after watching her interview, it is obvious that her story is one of empowerment, independence and most of all, inspiration.

In 1994, Hassan Barghouthi founded the Democracy and Workers Rights Center in Ramallah with the intention of creating an organization dedicated to workers’ rights. Fifteen years later, the DWRC remains an innovative leader in labor union reform and education. Mr. Barghouthi’s vision for the DWRC has helped thousands of Palestinian workers over the years by granting them access to free legal consultation, training and awareness seminars and, until recently, an occupational health clinic where workers could be seen by a physician at no charge. The following interview with Mr. Barghouthi provides some insights about the foundation of the DWRC and why it remains such a critical asset to Palestinian workers and the fight to guarantee their rights.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East dismissed 312 Palestinian workers in the West Bank last month. And given the slow nature of bureaucracy here, it is no surprise that news of the mass layoff is just now reaching news stands. One of the 312 estranged workers recently found himself at the DWRC to sit down with one of our lawyers, Mohammad Amarneh, to discuss the situation. The worker claimed that he was notified in mid June that his contract, set to expire on June 30^th, would not be renewed. According to Palestinian law, a limited term contract should not exceed 2 years and if it does, then it automatically converts to an unlimited contract. Once the contract becomes unlimited, the employer can no longer go to the employee and end the contract without a legitimate reason. Most of the UNRWA workers have been operating under 6 months contracts that are renewed on an ongoing basis and close to 90% have worked for more than two consecutive years.

Moreover, according to the law, employers who end an unlimited contract legitimately, are required to provide arbitrary dismissal compensation to the employee. The compensation should include 2 months pay for each year of work plus other benefits such as severance pay and vacation.

When questioned about the reason for the massive dismissal, UNRWA claims that it is in an effort to “restructure” their Emergency Programme and argue that local law does not apply in their case due to the immunity they were granted by the Ministry of Justice. This immunity, however, is in direct violation of the Palestinian constitution which states that the Ministry of Justice does not have the authority to grant basic rights to workers and so likewise they are not authorized to take such rights away (which they are inherently doing by providing immunity to UNRWA).

Upon hearing the news, Mr. Amarneh promptly contacted workers to begin investigating the situation and to ensure that workers’ rights are being respected and enforced. The DWRC plans on following the case closely in the coming weeks.

DWRC lawyer Mohammad Amarneh (right) meets with one of the dismissed workers (left)

DWRC lawyer Mohammad Amarneh (right) meets with one of the dismissed workers (left)