ILO supports Palestinian partners in initiating Labour Law reform

RAMALLAH (ILO) - A national workshop for the ILO’s tripartite social partners in the occupied Palestinian territory was held in Ramallah to initiate the reform of the Palestinian Labour Law, which was enacted in 2000.

The two-day workshop on November 11 and 12 brought together representatives of the Labour Ministry and workers’ and employers’ organizations as well as civil society organizations, such as the Disabled Union and the National Committee for Women’s Employment, to advise on relevant international standards as well as the approaches and methodology to be followed in the reform process.

“The importance of the ILO’s support is in determining the main principles and methodologies of the law reform process. The wide participation of the tripartite stakeholders means the reform process will be achieved with all partners having a high level of knowledge of the reform processes,” said Deputy Labour Minister Naser Qatami.

The tripartite National Committee on Labour Law Reform will conduct its work through a number of technical committees working on the different areas to be considered in the reform process, including labour conditions, vocational training and employment, wages and social security, occupational safety and health, trade unions and legal provisions to counter child labour, among others.

The ILO Decent Work Programme (DWP) for Palestine (2013-2016) highlights the promotion of improved labour market governance and labour rights through labour law reform as one of its chief priorities.

“This is a Palestinian exercise to discuss methods of reforming the Labour Law. The ILO has been providing all the technical and expertise support for our social partners for the past five years on this; now is the time for implementation,” said ILO Jerusalem Representative Mounir Kleibo.

ILO's Senior International Labour Standards and Labour Law Specialist Torsten Schackel , who provided an overview of relevant international legal standards and their application to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, noted that the event was "of particular importance given the wide participation in the reform process and the lack of specific experience with such process by some of the stakeholders."

Owing to the fact that the Palestinian parliament has not passed any laws since 2007, as a result of the factional and geographic split between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, any proposed amendment of the Palestinian Labour Law must have the widest possible acceptance from the social partners and broader civil society, prior to being presented to the Palestinian Cabinet and to the President for approval and enactment.

Labour Ministry Legal Advisor Buthaina Salem noted: “There is an urgent need to adopt a complete bundle of legislatures for the labour market which would include social security, union organization, vocational safety and health and wages in addition to guarantees such as labour courts, arbitration and penalties. Therefore a comprehensive review of the law is much needed.”