Why SodaStream Will Disengage From the West Bank

[oberliner]

After years of facing boycotts and public-relations battles, SodaStream—purveyor of popular home soda makers—has announced that it will be moving its factory from an Israeli settlement in the West Bank to a small Negev town in southern Israel. The company says the move will take place by mid-2015.

Seen by its opponents as a legitimizer of internationally condemned Israeli settlements, the company and its supporters often pushed back by touting SodaStream's record of hiring Palestinian workers and paying them wages equal to Israeli workers. Earlier this year, Ahmed Nasser, a Palestinian SodaStream employee from Ramallah, praised the company, telling Haaretz that "he receives an hour-and-a-half worth of breaks in a standard 12-hour shift, and that prayer times are not deducted from break allowances."

Earlier this year, the controversy extended into the reaches of popular culture when actress Scarlett Johansson left her post as a global ambassador for the development organization Oxfam after she signed on to represent SodaStream in a Super Bowl commercial. "Ms. Johansson's role promoting the company SodaStream is incompatible with her role as an Oxfam Global Ambassador," Oxfam said in a statement.

A representative for SodaStream said that the decision to move its factory to southern Israel was "purely commercial." On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal also reported that the company has recently been plagued by flagging revenue.

As for the fate of its employees, SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum said he plans to give Palestinian workers the opportunity to continue working for the company. As he told the AP: "We are offering all employees the opportunity to join us in Lehavim, and specifically, we are working with the Israeli government to secure work permits for our Palestinian employees."

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/sodastream-moves-west-bank-factory/382086/

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Is a 12 hour work day the 'standard' across all of Israel and Palestine?

Even if you do get 1.5 hours of breaks? (and does that mean the day is 10.5 hours, or is it simply spacing it out and you still work 12 hours?)

[grossproffit]

2. In my experience with 12 hour shifts

You'd work either 4-5 shifts one week and 2-3 shifts the following week and then it's repeated. It's mostly used in manufacturing industries with 24/7 operations. This is how it was at Dupont.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. Thanks

I've only ever come across 12 hr shifts in healthcare. And there, it's realistically a 12.5 hr shift with that half hour unpaid, as you prep the person or people taking over your patients on the next shift, and 'lunch' is 'get it as quick as you can and get back on the floor' because someone else is having to cover twice the patients any time you're gone.

[oberliner]

3. No, it's 8 hours for most jobs

They have gotten a lot of flak for their long shifts. They claim that the shifts are usually 8 hours but extend to 12 hours with extra breaks during peak times. Though with the fortunes of the company waning, perhaps there will be fewer such times.

[Israeli]

5. Labor laws are not the same ...

...within Israel proper and the settlements Erich Bloodaxe BSN.

We are not talking about Palestine here ....its called the Occupied Territories or the Wild West Bank ....or Judea and Samaria if you are Right wing .

If you are interested in learning more you should read this :

Palestinian workers in Israeli settlements: Contending with a regime of work permits and limited rights

by Assaf Adiv

Scarlet Johansson did not intend to, but when the Hollywood actress represented SodaStream, an Israeli company operating in the occupied territories, and claimed that the Palestinian workers receive the same full rights as their Israeli counterparts, she raised an international media storm. Responding to criticism that the plant’s location in occupied territory violates international law, SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum claimed, “We are very proud of our plant in Mishor Adumim. It must be understood, the plant employs both Israelis and Palestinians. All workers have equal rights. We call this an ‘island of peace’” (from Israel Hayom, 3 Feb. 2014).

However, reality in these industrial zones is far from an “island of peace.” Since the 1970s, hundreds of Israeli plants, factories, agricultural businesses and construction sites have been operating in the West Bank settlements, employing some 20,000 Palestinian workers at any given time. For years these workplaces operated far from the public eye. Business owners were granted huge discounts on land leases and tax benefits, hiring workers at wages far below the legal minimum in Israel, without the required social benefits. This continued despite the High Court ruling in the 2007 “Kav Laoved” case, which determined that there was no reason to discriminate between Israeli and Palestinian workers, and that Israeli labor laws were applicable to Israeli employers in the settlements.

To work for Israelis, Palestinians must be registered and obtain special work permits from the Coordination and Liaison Office of the Civil Administration , and the permits must be renewed every few months (see this report on the bureaucracy of occupation). However, there is no oversight of employment terms or enforcement of labor law or safety regulations. Labor Ministry inspectors are currently authorized to investigate Palestinian employment conditions relating only to the minimum wage. But even this is rarely done. Not a single Israeli employer has been charged with labor law violations in the settlements. (Some court decisions in favor of Palestinian workers have been given in recent years, but none charged the employer with violation of the law.) In fact, the settlements have become a legal no-man’s land, outside Israeli sovereignty and thus beyond the reach of Israeli enforcement authorities.

Wages in these areas are between one quarter and one half that of equivalent workers in Israel. Many receive their wages in cash, without a pay slip and without social benefits. SodaStream and some other firms now pay the legal minimum wage, but most workers are shamelessly exploited.

Continued @
http://challenge-mag.com/en/article__388/palestinian_workers_in_israeli_settlements_contending_with_a_regime_of_work_permits_and_limited_rights

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

6. "plagued by flagging revenue"