intimidation, since workers who had complained of any breaches or exploitation – whether directly to the contractor, through the university’s logistics department or through the representative of the Histadrut in the Negev region – were immediately fired, and even received threats that they will not be able to find any other work in the Negev. The perpetual fear the workers suffered was vividly demonstrated when most workers refused to even speak to students or lecturers on the subject of the manner of their employment or of their social benefits, despite recurring attempts. It was evident that the workers were deprived of the right to a dignified life from the day they were transferred to the service contractors. The main question that arose from the grim state of affairs was: how could it be that Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, a public institution that had raised the banner of social responsibility, chose such an offensive method of employment, which so consistently deprived workers of their rights.
Present (2005-2010): At the beginning of 2005 the members of “Tzach – Students for Social Justice”1 approached the management of the university with a request to receive explanations for the phenomenon of exploitation occurring daily at the university. At first the students received no reply at all to their approach, and they were told that the management of the university deals with academic issues, and that if there was any problem the students may approach the contractors. In light of recurring requests, the university delivered its formal response and position: the university claims that there was no problem with the employment of workers in its service, and does not recognize any cleaning worker as its employee – since the university purchases cleaning services and not human labor. The letter of response from the President, Prof. Rivka Carmi, dated July 12, 2007, stated that: “the university does not employ workers through contractors. The companies mentioned are companies that provide the university with services, and not workers.” At a different event a senior figure in the management of the university even suggested to the members of Tzach that if they indeed cared for the workers they were welcome to collect donations from the students for the cleaning workers. In light of this ideological position of the management of the university, an extensive and thorough investigation of the issue was initiated, which continues to this day, and includes a close and continuous connection with the workers, tracking down documents, follow-ups on pay slips, and more. According to one of the most important findings, the university had signed loss contracts2 that were unusual in their offensiveness with the two contractor companies that worked for it. Fur purposes of illustration, in 2006 the university had paid the contractor NIS 24.05 for each cleaning hour, while according to the computations of the accountant general, in a contract that was not a loss contract the relevant employer's cost for that year was NIS 27.58 for each hour. This figure shows that in order to pay the workers the minimum wage required by law, the contractor would have had to spend the sum of NIS 3.53 out of their own pocket for each work hour (not including any computation of profit for the contractor or the company they owned). The findings regarding the loss contracts show that in fact, it is the university that directly causes the terms of exploitation by the contractors. However, despite the direct responsibility resulting from these contracts, the university continued to hold its proclaimed position towards the workers, and continued to treat them as transparent workers.
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1 A group of students working voluntarily at the university in a number of areas related to social justice, such as accessibility for the physically handicapped at the university and the prevention of sexual harassments. 2 A loss contract is a contract in which the customer does not pay the performer of the service the minimal sum required for the performer of the service to be able to act lawfully, and still earn a minimal overhead.
In light of the response of the university and its formal position, the members of Tzach, with the assistance of lecturers, initiated an extensive protest against the policy of the university. The objectives of the activity were, and remain, to improve the terms of employment of the workers, to end the offensive method of employment through contractors, to reconnect the threads that connect the employee, their employer and the workplace, and to end the extreme injustice manifested in the attribution of the titles "services" and “temporary workers” to the cleaning workers, some of whom had been working at the same campus, for the same contractor, for over ten years. The protest activity included demonstrations, letters and petitions signed by lecturers and students, organization of conferences, an extensive exposure to the media of the blunt breach or rights, creating a lobby of Knesset Members supporting the issue, raising the issue in the Knesset and at the Education Committee of the Knesset, collection of information, maintaining connection with the cleaning workers, and more. This activity received public recognition in the form of the Knesset Speaker's Prize for Quality of Life awarded to the Tzach organization. In 2007, about a year and a half after the struggle began, the university decided to toughen its requirements of the contractors, but without changing the method of employment. The university signed new contracts with the contractors in 2007 which stopped the termination of the workers' employment every nine months, appointed an ombudsman for the cleaning workers to ensure the establishment of an oversight mechanism for the pay slips (a promise which has not been put into effect to this day), and the beginning of payment of part of the social benefits to the workers – while still completely ignoring the thousands of Shekels deprived of each worker during the years since their transfer to the contractors and up to 2007. In light of increasing pressure, and the requirement of the university from the contractors that they operate lawfully, one of the contractors ("Eitan Shamir, Ltd.") decided, over the summer of 2008, to fire all 150 workers in their employment, since they claimed that the university did not pay them enough to employ them legally. This act of termination constituted a turning point in the struggle for the rights of the cleaning workers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The world of the workers who received dismissal notices collapsed, and facing the terror of remaining unemployed and the sense of insult they began a protest strike in front of the offices of the university management. The strike was joined by students and lecturers, and the struggle was joined by many other organizations, all of which will have a significant role down the road. The coalition of organizations that was established included the Forum for Social Justice in the Department of Social Work, the Itach-Ma'aki (With You) Organization – Jurists for Social Justice, the Forum for the Protection of Higher Education, and the Shatil Organization. All of these supported the workers in their strike and their just struggle to be included as full-fledged employees of the university. The strike also saw the beginning of the formation of a union of cleaning workers, for the first time in Israel. In light of the strike of the workers who were terminated and the public pressure applied by the partners to the struggle on the university, the management of the university intervened and assured the workers that they will be returned to work, and that their rights will not be infringed. Applications by students and lecturers to the management of the university to try and find another solution to the grim situation the workers faced, such as their inclusion in the Logistics Department of the university or the establishment of a workers' cooperative accompanied by lecturers and students were rejected. The university contacted both contractor companies and offered to raise the hourly pay in both contracts with the contractors. Thus, the contractors received more money for every cleaning hour, the workers' pay slip included more benefits, but the offensive method of employment remained the same, and the situation of the workers worsened. Alongside the accomplishments, new phenomena began to raise their heads. From the day the workers returned to their cleaning jobs, under the same contractors, informal pressure to weaken the workers, and even more so to prevent their unification, were applied. As 9