VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #0261 0241344
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241344Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1590
INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0140
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS AMMAN 000261 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB/TPP/ABT, NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, DRL, G/TIP 
STATE PASS TO USTR (CMILLER, AROSENBERG, LKARESH) 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/OTEXA MARIA D'ANDREA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ETRD EAID KTEX ECON JO
SUBJECT:  Labor Ministry Closes Cotton Craft Factory Due to Repeated 
Labor Violations 
 
REFS:  A) 07 Amman 4991 
       B) 07 Amman 4166 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE USG. 
 
¶1.  (U) On January 16, Jordan's Ministry of Labor (MOL) shut down 
the "Cotton Craft" factory in al-Tajamouat Qualifying Industrial 
Zone (QIZ) in Sahab after repeated labor violations were identified 
during MOL inspections and cited in National Labor Committee (NLC) 
reports (reftels). 
 
¶2.  (SBU) MOL Advisors confirmed to Econoff that the MOL had been 
closely monitoring and working with factory management on improving 
labor conditions at Cotton Craft (CC) since the end of 2006. 
Various problems included non-payment of overtime (OT) wages, OT 
hours, physical abuse, and poor dormitory facilities.  In May 2007, 
CC supervisors were fined by a Jordanian court for slapping workers. 
 In June 2007, the company was sold, and MOL worked with the new 
management to bring the factory into compliance. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Although all back wages had been paid as of October 2007, 
MOL decided to shut down the factory after learning that the wages 
for November and December 2007 had again not been paid to 
approximately 150 workers.  The new owner reportedly had accumulated 
debts, and could not meet financial obligations.  MOL confirmed to 
Econoff that the Jordanian government has assisted in transferring 
the unpaid, predominantly Bengali workers to other factories.  Since 
the payment of wages is a contractual issue, MOL explained that the 
government could not initiate court proceedings, but informed 
workers of their rights to pursue the cases in Jordanian courts and 
offered assistance in finding lawyers. 
 
¶4.  (U) MOL recently reported in the local press that in 2007, 
workers filed 2,479 complaints at the MOL's Directorate of 
Inspection and Workers Affairs, and 77% of the cases had been 
resolved.  Of those complaints, 755 were received through the 
hotline set up last year in six languages: Hindi, Bangla, Sinhala, 
Tagalog, and Bahasa Indonesian.  Most of the complaints by foreign 
laborers involved dormitory conditions, non-payment of overtime and 
minimum wages, maltreatment by employers, delayed salaries, and 
confiscation of passports. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT: The closure of the Cotton Craft factory sends a 
strong signal to other factories on the consequences of failure to 
comply with local labor law.  It also underscores that the Jordanian 
government continues to take labor issues seriously and implement 
tough decisions after exhausting all other measures to improve labor 
conditions. 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
HALE