Cheap labor pools can be swapped when workers strike

Evidence

When Palestinian workers have raised their heads, the consequences have been historic. The First Intifada (literally “uprising”) marks a turning point that underscores the deep connection between economic dependence, labor relations, and ultimately exploitation. In December 1987, an Israeli truck hit a vehicle carrying Palestinian workers in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, killing four. The tragic event triggered an unofficial national strike. More than one hundred thousand Palestinian workers boycotted work in Israel, which led to a dramatic halt in production, paralyzing entire sectors of the Israeli economy, especially construction. In response, Israel began to reduce its reliance on Palestinian labor. Throughout the 1990s, it expanded the recruitment of similarly highly exploitable workers from outside the region, including Romania, Thailand, and the Philippines. The number of non-Palestinian workers in Israel jumped from less than twenty thousand in 1993 to one hundred thousand in 1996. In turn, the Palestinian reserve army swelled. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 328