Israel: Trade Union Centre Histadrut to Allow Migrant Workers Full Membership

Brussels, 6 January 2010 (ITUC OnLine): A decision taken by the ITUC’s Israeli affiliate Histadrut to allow migrant workers membership is a significant step towards ensuring an end to exploitation and helping ensure full respect for their rights at work. The December 28 decision by the national trade union centre removes an anomaly whereby only citizens and residents of Israel were entitled to join and to stand for election positions within the Histadrut.

To date, most of Histadrut’s activities in support of migrant workers have been conducted via a special office in the Tel Aviv Regional Labour Council, as well as political lobbying and support for legal cases.

Migrant labour accounts for some 7% of Israel’s labour force, and maltreatment of these workers is prevalent, in particular in the agriculture sector where poor working and living conditions, long working hours, sub-minimum wages and other forms of exploitation have been documented. Alongside workers from Eastern Europe and various Asian countries, tens of thousands of Palestinians work for Israeli employers as documented or undocumented migrants. At the June 2009 International Labour Conference, the ILO called on the Israeli government to ensure that migrant workers have the same rights as Israeli citizens in law and in practice, as well as in social security provision.

“While the impacts of Israel’s blockade of Gaza and continued occupation of the West Bank on Palestinians are well known internationally, the plight of migrant workers inside Israel, whether from Palestine or elsewhere, has received little international attention. Histadrut’s decision can only help to improve their situation and we welcome it,” said ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) General Secretary Guy Ryder.

Factors to Consider When Buying Land in The Philippines

When looking for homes in Philippines, one needs to consider the following factors:

Terrain

The whole country features a myriad of unique terrains and the people have learned to adapt to these unique conditions in order to survive. As testimony, homes in philippines may range from huts and elevated cottages to brick mansions depending on the condition of the terrain where the homes are built on. Those that are situated near bodies of water, such as in the case of beach houses, are equipped with measures to withstand heavy and occasional typhoons, frequent tide changes and even tsunamis; while those that are built on sloping mountain sides are layered and feature pilot rooms adjoined by bridges and beautiful walkways to minimize risk of collapse and subsidence.

The country has several different terrains to offer so one has to carefully think about which terrain should his/her home stand on.

Accessibility

Since the country is still on its way to development in terms of economy and infrastructure, one needs to consider how accessible a particular location is. Those that are easily accessible and are located in fully-developed and highly urbanized areas usually cost significantly more than those that are less developed. The accessibility to familiar and essential establishments such as schools, churches, malls, and hospitals also become of a factor that dictates how much a piece of land costs.

This, however, seems less of a concern for most Filipinos because a lot of homes in philippines are built without accessibility as a consideration. Most of them, of course, are built by squatters or land grabbers.

Price

Price is always a consideration whether you want to build a home in the Philippines or in other countries. However, since the Philippines is considerably young especially in terms of economic development, its lands cost generally less than those in other countries.

Several factors are responsible for this. Some of these factors include the first two mentioned above. Since the Philippines offers a greater variety of terrain and, consequently varying degrees of accessibility, it has a greater range of prices to offer. The flatter and the more stable a terrain is, the higher its cost gets. Similarly, the more accessible the land becomes, the greater its price becomes.

Other factors include the name of the developer selling the land. The more popular realty companies have built their reputation on years of good and quality service so the more familiar (or popular) the realty company selling the land is, the more expensive the price tag of the land gets.

Another factor that may affect the price of the land is its exclusivity. The more exclusive the land is, the higher its cost gets. Apparently, in the Philippines, privacy comes with a hefty price tag. For more information visit to our site at http://www.atayala.com

Doctor builds hospital cum hotel in Capiz

ROXAS CITY, Philippines – The first-ever “hospitel” – a hospital and hotel – in the Visayas will soon rise in Capiz at a cost of P450 million.

A simple groundbreaking ceremony was held last Tuesday on the 30-hectare development site in this city.

Capitalizing on the growing popularity of the medical hotel concept and backed by the results of studies conducted, the project involves the construction of a 100-bed tertiary hospital –a well-equipped facility offering a full range of medical services – with an adjoining hotel.

To be known as The Health Centrum, the facility will be at the heart of the 30-hectare complex owned by the Balgos Family located in Roxas City’s Barangay (village) Banica. It will be financed by a loan from the Land bank of the Philippines.

The entire property is envisioned to become a fully sufficient community with areas earmarked for nursing and medical training school, housing for medical practitioners, a retirement village, residential subdivision, and commercial establishments.

Doctor Abundio Balgos, currently based in Metro Manila, said the planned integrated hospital, hotel, and mall complex would serve clients not only from Roxas City and province but also other parts of Panay, such Iloilo, Aklan, Antique, and Boracay Island, as well as Masbate and the northern part of Palawan, which are nearby.

Balgos said the hospital would offer modern and state-of-the-art general and specialty medical services, as well as a resort/out-patient/long-term care and treatment facility.

The hotel will also serve the patients of the hospital, both in-patients requiring nursing care, pain management or observation services for their recuperation, and out-patients requiring temporary accommodation before and after their medical exams, he added.

Because of its proximity to island resorts and diving spots, the facility will also have a decompression chamber, he added.

According to the plan, a mall adjacent to the hospital and hotel will also be built.

The property is close to the College of St. John – Roxas, a De La Salle supervised school, which has elementary, high school, and college that offers a nursing course.

An 11-hectare residential subdivision intended to serve as a retirement village, is also planned, he said.

Balgos said medical tourism would enhance the viability of the project once the institution was able to establish a good reputation built on competent medical specialists, nursing care, state-of-the-art equipment, and a center for alternative medicine.

Balgos said the development would cover a period of 10 years. The total project cost was based on a set of technical studies conducted by a team of doctors, architects and engineers.

As main proponent of the project, Balgos said he would relocate his medical practice to Roxas City when the project starts operations. - Felipe V. Celino, Inquirer Visayas, January 02, 2010