The Knesset Labor, Welfare, and Health Committee held an emergency meeting this morning (Thursday) in order to discuss the Tel Aviv parking garage collapse, this while rescue operations at the site are still ongoing.
Committee Chairman Elie Elalouf (Kulanu), said at the opening of the meeting that "the members of this committee saw this coming a long time ago; we've been warning of tremendous negligence in construction sites and a lack of readiness and coordination between the government offices. We saw how these tragedies were not prevented, even though the majority of them were preventable. The desire to cut costs and finish construction quickly causes negligence and disasters."
According to MK Elalouf, "there is a regime of fear and intimidation arraigned against any worker who dares complain. The Zeiler Committee and Adam Report recommendations haven't been implemented at all, even though they were officially adopted by the government."
Elalouf declared that he opposes the establishment of a state investigative committee and rejected MK Ayman Odeh's demand that a vote be held on the establishment of such a committee. He also announced that a follow-up meeting will be held on September 29th and that he hopes that the police gag order will be lifted by then.
Roei Weinstein, the spokesperson for the union of crane operators in Israel, urged the committee members to help the workers. "We are constantly stepped on. Help us, our lives are in danger, this is no joke.
"I'm the transparent laborer. I sit there at the site. The contractors aren't there, like they don't exist. We're under tremendous pressure, working 15 hours a day. There's no work manager when I arrive in the morning, so I don't get briefed. We're fired and replaced all the time. I do whatever I want. As long as the crane works, no one cares what goes on there," Weinstein added.
"What investigation are you people talking about? What committees?" Weinstein railed at the committee members, "Maybe first we should get a wind vane so that I could know whether I can safely board the crane in strong winds? Can we get some safety equipment so that I can tell how much I am endangering the kindergarten that I'm working above?
"My shift managers speak only Russian or Turkish, and work us like dogs. We're the cheapest commodity. A friend told me that he contacted the Economy Ministry today to tell them that someone had forged his work license and was working on a crane under his name, and the Ministry just blew him off, telling him to take it to the police."
Weinstein warned that the next work accident is just a matter of time. "I promise you there will be many more accidents this year, and that one of them will definitely involve a friend of mine."
Ronen Ginzburg, CEO of the Danya Cebus construction company, also attended the Knesset committee meeting and said: "For three days we haven't slept, and have been helping in any way we can to try and save the people buried under the rubble. This whole event has been really difficult for me.
"Danya Cebus will do everything in its power to cooperate with the investigative bodies in order to arrive at the truth. The parking garage incident doesn't seem to be connected to workplace safety issues. It appears to be an engineering flaw."
Ginzburg emphasized that the project was run by an engineer, not an architect. "Danya Cebus has made safety its top priority. The Danya Cebus company has 12 executives in charge of safety measures, there is no other company that does this. Every site has a qualified shift manager and there is always special care paid to safety."
The CEO also answered a question by MK Elalouf about a separate incident in which a large beam fell at a building site run by the company. "The company didn't report the incident to the authorities because there is no legal obligation to do so, but the incident wasn't covered up in any way."