VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #7750/01 2840658
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110658Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4778
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS AMMAN 007750 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR/KARESH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ETRD EAID PHUM JO
SUBJECT: LABOR MINISTER ON LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN 
ADDRESSING LABOR ISSUES 
 
REF: AMMAN 7687 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Jordan's Labor Minister Basem Salem 
reports that his Ministry has intervened directly to prevent 
Jordanian garment factory management from sending foreign 
workers back to their home countries without due process. 
The Minister issued a letter September 22 stating that no 
worker can be sent home without the permission of the 
Ministry.  The Ministry is also finalizing draft amendments 
to the labor law that would bring it into line with ILO 
standards.  The Prime Minister visited the Ministry on 
October 3 to discuss these issues.   Salem also noted a 
privately-funded study which shows that more Jordanian 
workers would be more willing to work in factories if the 
salaries were higher.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------- 
ENDING FORCED REPATRIATIONS 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Labor Minister Basem Salem told Charge on October 5 
that he had personally intervened two days earlier to prevent 
garment factory managers from putting foreign laborers on 
planes home without enjoying due process under the law.  He 
noted that he issued a letter on September 22 to the Jordan 
Garment and Textile Manufacturers Association (JGATE) and to 
others in the private sector directing that garment 
manufacturers should send no foreign worker home from Jordan 
without the permission of the Ministry of Labor.  In 
addition, he instructed those manning the new Ministry QIZ 
worker hotlines to highlight the September 22 directive, and 
had issued a circular describing the directive to the 
factories for the workers as well.  Salem concluded by noting 
that the factory owner involved in this recent case had "been 
a problem" previously and that the Minister might be forced 
to close the factory. 
 
---------------------- 
AMENDING THE LABOR LAW 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Salem also provided the latest details on the 
current status of his effort to amend the labor law he had 
announced at the September 18 Labor Forum meeting held as 
part of the U.S.-Jordan FTA Joint Committee (JC) talks 
(reftel).  Salem said he had just received and would review 
the recommended amendments prepared by an interagency 
committee.  All the amendments had already been endorsed by 
the ILO, he said.  He described these amendments as "JC 
plus," meaning that they included all amendments he had 
announced at the Joint Committee meeting in addition to a 
number of others.  NOTE: We will report the ILO's expert 
assessment once translations are complete.  END NOTE.  Labor 
Ministry staff were preparing implementing regulations in 
order to be ready when Parliament passes the law.  NOTE: 
Parliament enters into session again November 28.  Post will 
obtain a copy of the draft as soon as possible.  END NOTE. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
THE PM AND OTHER MINISTERS VISIT THE MINISTRY OF LABOR 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Minister commented that Prime Minister Bakhit 
visited his Ministry on October 3 for an iftar to break the 
fast during the month of Ramadan.  Bakhit brought with him a 
number of other ministers, including the Deputy Prime 
Minister/Finance Minister, Planning Minister, and Minister of 
Industry and Trade, among others.  Although he gave no 
details, Salem said that the QIZ labor issues had been "at 
the top of the agenda" during these discussions. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
GETTING JORDANIANS TO WORK IN FACTORIES: 
SALARIES ARE THE PROBLEM 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Salem reported on a study the Ministry had 
commissioned, but which had been funded by the private 
sector, which indicated that unemployed Jordanians would be 
willing to work in garment factories, but not for the 
salaries currently being offered.  He said this proved that 
the "culture of shame" blamed for the inability to recruit 
Jordanians to work in these factories was overstated. 
According to the study, 69% of Jordanians surveyed would be 
willing to work in a factory for a "decent" wage, which the 
poll defined as 200 Jordanian dinars (US$ 280) per month 
roughly twice the current average wage offered in the QIZs. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Of the unemployed surveyed, 29% had been offered 
 
jobs in factories and refused.  Of those who refused, Salem 
said that 33% had given the salary as the reason, 28% had 
cited the long hours, and only 11% had cited the culture of 
shame.  Salem intends to publish the study, which is in 
Arabic, shortly. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT: The GoJ is continuing to address the 
issues raised in the recent AFL-CIO complaint.  The 
Jordanians were heartened by the comment in the latest report 
from the National Labor Committee that 80% of the garment 
factories in Jordan had improved substantially since the 
first NLC report in May 2006.  The NLC report alleged there 
were still significant problems in the sector, but gave 
Jordan credit for progress made to date.  Meanwhile, the 
USAID-funded external assessment program has begun its 
three-month work program, assessing many of these same 
factories against international standards. 
RUBINSTEIN