VZCZCXRO4532
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #4060/01 2751537
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021537Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0481
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA IMMEDIATE 0128
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO IMMEDIATE 0155
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 004060 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA (ALLEN, RANA) 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR (ROSENBERG, KARESH, DONNELLY) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV JO
SUBJECT: STRIKES IN JORDAN'S QIZ FACTORIES 
 
REF: EASON-BRIGGS-DEMARIA-BROWN-PISANI 10/1/07 E-MAIL 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly.  Not 
for internet distribution or distribution outside the USG. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Workers, predominately Bangladeshi, have 
gone on strike at two factories in Jordan's Qualifying 
Industrial Zones (QIZs).  The Ministry of Labor (MOL) has 
been monitoring situations at both factories and facilitating 
negotiations with management.  Following receipt of 
information from the National Labor Committee (NLC) on the 
strike at Cotton Craft factory, MOL immediately called 
factory management and the local director of the Government 
of Jordan (GOJ) Labor Office in al-Tajamouat Industrial City 
(Ref A).  Both were unaware of any cases of illness among the 
workers, and began making the necessary arrangements to 
transfer the individual named in the NLC report to the 
hospital for appropriate treatment.  Some of the worker 
demands reflect ongoing issues, such as issuance of temporary 
worker permits and waiver of penalties, which the MOL 
continues to address (Refs B, C).  In other cases, however, 
workers have not been cooperative in conveying legitimate 
claims and working with the GOJ, or their own country's 
embassy in Jordan, to resolve problems.  End Summary. 
 
Cotton Craft Strike 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) As noted in Ref A, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan workers 
at Cotton Craft Garment Factory in al-Tajamouat QIZ in Sahab 
have been on strike since mid-September.  Since the strike 
began, MOL officials have visited the factory seven or eight 
times and facilitated negotiations between the management and 
workers, according to the head of the MOL Inspection 
Directorate, Dr. Amin Wreidat.  Wreidat provided Post the 
following details on some of the demands and claims by 
workers: 
 
-- (SBU) Regular Wages and Overtime:  Cotton Craft's general 
management provided documents to MOL showing that the workers 
received their wages for July and August 2007.  Documents 
also showed that workers received overtime payments for July. 
 Wreidat clarified that management indicated that the Bengali 
managers "played with records," claiming excess hours of 
overtime that employees never actually worked, as verified by 
the fact that the factory generally closed between 6-7 p.m. 
during that month.  According to Wreidat, management paid the 
July overtime it believed was legitimate, and workers were 
still negotiating payment of the additional hours they claim 
to have worked when the strike began.  Wreidat said that MOL 
has had a difficult time verifying the true number of hours 
worked. 
 
-- (SBU) Back Wages: Wreidat also noted that there were 
issues of back wages owed to workers from the previous owners 
of the factory.  The new owners had agreed with workers in 
June to pay the back wages in 50 JD installments, and 
provided documents to MOL showing that they had subsequently 
followed through with three payments, leaving only a small 
outstanding balance (Ref C). 
 
-- (SBU) Passports: Wreidat said management had been holding 
workers' passports with employees' written consent.  In 
response to demands by the workers, factory management tried 
to return the passports, but the workers then reportedly 
refused to accept them.  MOL planned to send a team to Cotton 
Craft on October 2 to resolve this issue. 
 
-- (SBU) Temporary Worker Permits: Wreidat confirmed that the 
employees at Cotton Craft received temporary worker permits 
as part of the larger MOL process to address penalties and 
regularize workers' status (Refs B, C). 
 
-- (SBU) Dormitories:  Cotton Craft management rented a new 
dormitory for workers as of September 18; both the management 
and MOL Labor Office believe the new accommodations and 
furniture are better than current lodging.  The workers, 
however, refuse to move.  Yousaf Rahman, Labor and Consular 
Officer at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Jordan, said that 
factory employees no longer trust the management, and 
therefore are skeptical of any new arrangements. 
 
-- (SBU) Water and Electricity:  A dispute ensued between the 
factory management and the landlord over the current 
dormitory because the premises had not yet been vacated after 
termination of the contract, hindering the landlord from 
 
AMMAN 00004060  002 OF 002 
 
 
renting it to another tenant.  To push the factory to vacate, 
the landlord cut off the water and electricity.  The landlord 
and management have since reached a settlement, and the 
utilities have been reconnected.  Cotton Craft management 
also indicated to MOL that workers will sometimes cut cables 
to disconnect the electricity supply themselves if they know 
inspectors are coming, as verified by the fact that the 
electricity is disconnected from the inside rather than the 
outside. 
 
-- (SBU) Food:  Wreidat said that management provided food to 
the workers in the dormitory, which the employees refused and 
threw out the windows in front of witnesses, causing safety 
issues for passersby and a significant amount of time and 
money to clean up.  As a result, management informed the MOL 
in writing that food would be cut off.  Upon receipt of the 
letter, MOL called Cotton Craft, which agreed to resume 
supplying food in the factory's cafeteria instead of in the 
dorm.  A letter dated October 2 from Cotton Craft to MOL 
states that the workers are informed daily that the food is 
still provided in the factory's cafeteria and available to 
workers at any time.  Rahman said he does not believe factory 
management has been consistently offering food to workers on 
strike. 
 
-- (SBU) Medical Assistance:  Wreidat confirmed that the 
management of Cotton Craft and Director of MOL's Labor Office 
in that area were making arrangements for the transfer of one 
ill employee, Mr. Azizul, identified in Ref A, to the 
hospital if needed. 
 
-- (SBU) Transfer to other Factories:  Although some of the 
workers have requested a transfer to other factories, Wreidat 
said that allowing such a transfer would encourage more 
strikes in the future whenever someone wants to switch 
factories.  Sending workers back to their home countries also 
poses challenges, because MOL does not have funding to buy 
plane tickets for workers, and the new factory management is 
likely not keen to pay such expenses for workers who have 
only been under their employment for three months. 
 
CCKM Strike 
----------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Wreidat also noted that 400 Bangladeshi workers went 
on strike October 1 in CCKM Apparel Manufacturing Company in 
al-Tajamouat QIZ.  The strike was organized by 15-20 
employees, who refused to speak with or give a list of 
demands to MOL.  Wreidat personally visited the factory and 
tried to speak with other workers to determine the problem, 
but the core organizers of the strike reportedly threatened 
them with beatings if they talked to the Jordanian 
government.  The few people that Wreidat did speak with said 
that they had no problems with the factory, and were only 
striking due to pressure by fellow workers. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Rahman told Econoff that the workers at CCKM have 
issues with residency permits and their allowance by law of 
14 days annual leave.  He said that one of the problems is 
that Bengali workers are not approaching the Bangladeshi 
Embassy for assistance before going on strike, which could 
help determine whether employees have legitimate claims or 
not.  He noted that MOL has been cooperating with the 
Bangladeshi Embassy in Jordan on these matters. 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
Hale