VZCZCXYZ0014
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #2600/01 2521225
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081225Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3479
INFO RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0181
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0150
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0268
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0054
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0113
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0286
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS AMMAN 002600 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB/TPP/ABT, NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, DRL, G/TIP 
STATE PASS TO USTR (SFRANCESKI, LKARESH) 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/OTEXA MARIA D'ANDREA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON ETRD EAID KTIP KTEX JO
SUBJECT:  Workers Strike at Mediterranean Resources Apparel Industry 
in Ad-Dulayl QIZ Over Salary Deduction for Food 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE USG. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Approximately 1,080 foreign workers at the Emirati 
Mediterranean Resources Apparel Industry (MRAI) factory in Ad-Dulayl 
Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) went on strike August 31.  They 
have demanded the end of a JD 25 ($35.31) monthly deduction for food 
from their base salary, which was a contractual agreement reached 
with workers in March 2007.  After 200 employees returned to work, 
one was beaten by fellow co-workers for breaking the strike line and 
she filed a report with the police.  No abuse by the police towards 
the workers has been confirmed.  MRAI management reports that 
workers have continued to receive food and water, and all employees 
have possession of their passports, except for approximately 158 
workers whose passports, visas, or residency permits are being 
renewed.  Interlocutors in the Ministry of Labor, the Textile Union, 
MRAI management, and the Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi Embassies all 
deem the strike illegal.  End Summary. 
 
Main Demand: End of Food Deductions 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Mediterranean Resources Apparel Industry (MRAI) employs 
around 1,251 workers: 429 Sri Lankans, 262 Bangladeshis, 218 
Indians, 105 Nepalese, 2 Pakistanis, 1 Filipino, and 234 Jordanians. 
 Approximately 1,080 workers, led by Bangladeshi workers, went on 
strike on August 31, calling for the elimination of a JD 25 ($35.31) 
per month food deduction from their base salary or repatriation to 
their home countries.  Ministry of Labor (MOL) and MRAI management 
confirmed that MRAI previously deducted JD 36.5 ($51.55) per month 
and agreed to reduce the amount to JD 25 ($35.31) after workers 
conducted a similar strike in March 2007.  The owner of the factory 
and the workers signed the new contractual agreement with the 
assistance of relevant embassies and MOL.  NOTE:  The current local 
labor law allows for such deductions to be made as long as workers 
enter into the contract knowingly.  END NOTE. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Ameed Hasan Abdel-Qader, General Manager of MRAI, told 
Econoff that when the workers first went on strike, he met with 20 
leaders to see if a compromise could be reached.  He offered a bonus 
of JD 5 ($7.06) per month; approximately 200 Sri Lankan workers 
accepted it and returned to work.  The others, he said, continued to 
demand full elimination of the deduction.  On September 4, the 
Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan Ambassadors and the MOL attempted to 
broker a further reduction to JD 15 ($21.19) per month.  Abdel-Qader 
reported the Bangladeshi Embassy in Amman recently informed him that 
the workers wrote in their native language that they would accept a 
JD 10 ($14.12) deduction.  Yousef Aziz Rahman, Labor Welfare Officer 
in the Bangladeshi Embassy in Amman, confirmed that the workers will 
agree to this deduction and Abdel-Qader indicated that the company 
would also agree, assuming it is truly the final demand.  On this 
basis Rahman believed that the strike would soon come to an end. 
 
Most Workers in Possession of their Passports 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Abdel-Qader asserted that all employees were in possession 
of their passports, except for 158 whose passports were with the 
company's Human Resources Department.  Of those, 10 needed to renew 
their passports at their embassies, 80 needed to renew their work 
residency permits, 23 had resigned or finished their contracts 
shortly before the strike, and 45 had been transferred from another 
closed-down factory in July or August and needed work visas and 
residency permits.  He denied the allegations in the National Labor 
Committee's (NLC) recent report that MRAI management has threatened 
deportation, saying that he would not be in favor of sending anyone 
home who wanted to work in his factory.  He also said that workers 
are allowed to leave the industrial park, although they have been 
cautioned about their own safety in doing so.  Based on his 
conversations with workers and the relevant parties, Bangladeshi 
diplomat Rahman also denied the allegations in the NLC report and 
stated that passports were not forcefully confiscated. 
 
Fighting among Co-Workers 
------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Contrary to a September 3 article in The Daily Star 
Online, MOL and union contacts have stated that the police in no way 
 
harmed or even clashed with workers.  MOL contacts told Poloffs that 
Ministry officials asked to see all workers allegedly harmed by the 
police, but only one Bangladeshi came forward, and Sri Lankan 
workers interviewed by MOL said the injury (marks on his head and 
neck) came from intra-worker fights and not from the police. In 
addition, two Sri Lankan workers told MOL officials they were mildly 
beaten by co-workers but did not want to file a police report. 
Abdel-Qader noted that he knew of at least one case in which seven 
roommates of a Bengali female worker who had returned to work beat 
her because she broke the strike line.  The worker, he said, filed a 
report with the police, and MRAI rented a special apartment in the 
supervisors' building for her.  MOL also said that the police had 
offered protection to workers who wanted to return to work, but 
noted their limitations in guaranteeing safety in the dormitories. 
 
 
Working Hours 
------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Abdel-Qader added that MRAI follows the compliance 
standards of its buyers with regards to an emergency policy for 
working hours during the July - October high season.  Employees may 
voluntarily decide to work a maximum of 12 hours a day, including 
overtime, but he averred that no one is forced to do so.  He said 
that in April 2008 during the low season, MRAI tried to institute a 
policy of a maximum 8 hour workday with no overtime, but workers 
became upset because they wanted overtime and to make extra money. 
Abdel-Qader also confirmed that overtime is paid on a monthly basis 
with the regular salary and that while there have been instances of 
two- to three-day delays due to bureaucratic processing, employees 
are generally paid on time. 
 
Illegal Strike 
-------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The MOL and the Textile Union, represented by the local 
union organizer, signed a joint statement that the strike is illegal 
on the grounds that there was a contractual agreement that was 
handled transparently between the factory and the workers.  The 
statement also said that workers failed to give the 14-day prior 
notice required by local law. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Abdel-Qader noted that he hoped a compromise could be 
reached shortly, saying that he wants both his customers and his 
workers to be satisfied.  He welcomed the visit of any USG officials 
to the MRAI factory. 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
Beecroft