Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation (ص 290)

غرض

عنوان

Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation (ص 290)

المحتوى

Nevertheless, the additional income brought to the household by
other family members could not alleviate the bad living conditions of
the majority of the workers. The overwhelming majority of the workers,
estimated at 95 per cent were indebted either to the employer or to
other shop-keepers.
In conclusion, the survey added ,98 per cent of all the workers
had a standard of living far below the subsistence level. Of the
workers surveyed 93 per cent were illiterate and 14 per cent could
barely manage to sign their names. (18)
The survey which focused on Arab workers' living conditions did not
provide data on Jewish wages for the same year (1936) nor did it
specify the nature of jobs occupied. Yet, based on data presented
earlier (Table 1) tt Is possible to obtain a sense of the wage
differentials between the indigenous Palestinian and Jewish working
classes. Acccrding to Table 1, an average Jewish worker (occupying
jobs ranging from the least paid unskilled to the highest paid skilled
ones) in 1936 received an average wage of labour 452 mils per day.
Providing that the worker was successfully employed for the whole
month, say 25 days, the monthly income for a Jewish laborer would be
11,3090 mils. Compared to figures provided in the survey, this average
was close to the income bracket of 12,000 mils which represented the
income of 15 workers only or 1.5 per cent of the labor force surveyed.
Even when compared to the lowest wages paid to the male Jewish
worker (unskilled laborer, Table 1) whose monthly wages were estimated
at 7,500 mils, one finds that over 69 per cent of the Arab workers
surveyed rxeceived far less than the least paid Jewisn worker during
the same year.
Jaffa, which was Palestine's main commercial and financial centre
276
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هو جزء من

Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation

تاريخ

١٩٨٩

المنشئ

Nahla Abdo-Zubi

مجموعات العناصر

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