Dozens of crane operators in Israel work with fake certificates and false credentials.
This has already been discovered and investigated by the police, there were even some arrests that made a big noise in the media, but public relations aside and reality aside.
The situation has not really changed and there are still hundreds of operators working in Israel without certification and with allegedly forged certificates given to them in violation of the law.
The problem lies in the fact that the State of Israel allows contractor companies to employ crane operators through manpower companies, and thus it turns out that neither party is responsible for the default.
The contractor hires an employee from a manpower company and does not ask questions.
If they gave him an employee, then he accepts him and there is a lot of negligence in that.
Personnel companies mediate thousands of employees and do not care what the level of professionalism is and whether the employee has really been certified and received a real license to operate the "main commission" crane.
All that needs to be done is to amend the Employment of Workers by Personnel Companies Act, if necessary then by a temporary order, and to immediately stop this form of employment, which not only infringes on workers ’rights but also endangers the lives and lives of other workers at construction sites.
In addition, the Israel Police should not only settle for such and such arrests, but also apply to the court and deny manpower companies the license to engage in the field for all violators of existing law.
Counterfeiting licenses are a serious phenomenon, and this comes along with full or partial cash payment all in order for the employer to avoid paying for the employee's social components, failure to maintain working hours and rest and further violations of labor laws and other criminal law clauses. And harming the lives of workers at construction sites.
Enforcement units in the Ministry of Labor must arise and not renew work permits for manpower companies found to be in breach of the law.
These companies function like off-the-shelf companies, they just move employees from one place to another, and do not take responsibility for the criminal acts.
Enforcement units can prevent this phenomenon but for some reason do not do enough to do so.
We offer a very simple thing: updating regulations in the field of entry into the industry, depositing high guarantees of manpower companies, just as was done in the field of employing foreign workers.
Today, the low guarantee / deposit for companies that employ cranes is NIS 40,000, and this is not a deterrent at all.
Advances must also be made in the field of technology, because electronic devices that measure working hours can now be installed on every crane, and thus life-threatening anomalies can be monitored.
In addition, it is also possible to raise the bar and job requirements for any manager of a manpower company that employs 100 people or more.
Today anyone can run such a company.
The lack of enforcement by the Enforcement and Regulation Administration has brought the construction industry to where it is today: workers with forged certificates, unnecessary work accidents that could have been prevented and a general sense of chaos when it comes to employing workers.
I will continue to fight and I will not rest and I will demand discussions in the Knesset committees, changes in laws and regulations and increased enforcement by the bodies in charge of it.
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