VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #0856/01 1020414
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 120414Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4838
INFO RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0216
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0190
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0281
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0068
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0149
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0324
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1661
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 5466
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS AMMAN 000856 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB/TPP/ABT, NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, DRL, G/TIP 
STATE PASS TO USTR (SFRANCESKI, LKARESH, CROMERO) 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/OTEXA MARIA D'ANDREA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON ETRD EAID KTIP KTEX JO
SUBJECT:  DK Garment Factory Shuts Down After Strike and Financial 
Problems, Leaving Foreign Workers Due Back Wages 
 
REFS: A) Amman 392 
      B) Amman 226 
      C) 07 Amman 4991 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  CONTAINS PROPRIETARY INFORMATION.  NOT 
FOR DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE USG. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Approximately 93 Bangladeshi employees at DK 
Textiles Company in Al Hassan Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) went 
on strike in January 2009 after an altercation between a Bangladeshi 
supervisor and Bangladeshi employee.  The strike led to financial 
problems that caused DK to close down on February 16.  Although the 
National Labor Committee (NLC) did not publish any reports on the 
situation on its website, it did contact the Ministry of Labor 
(MOL), U.S. buyers, and other relevant parties with reports from 
workers at the factory that MOL investigated and found to contain 
inaccuracies.  At the request of the workers, MOL repatriated 90 
foreign workers at government expense and transferred 25 workers to 
other factories in Jordan.  MOL ensured provision of food, water, 
and medical care.  Workers are still owed about $40,000 in back 
wages and annual leave benefits for January, but DK claims that it 
cannot pay the outstanding dues to workers until the Israeli company 
Tefron pays DK $120,000-$130,000 for final deliveries and promised 
orders.  MOL welcomed any information on Tefron's position regarding 
DK that Embassy Tel Aviv may be able to provide.  Having received 
legal representation through the Bangladeshi Embassy in Amman, the 
foreign workers have filed a court case in Jordan against DK, with a 
verdict expected in April.  The Bangladeshi Embassy expressed 
satisfaction with the manner in which MOL handled the complex labor 
situation.  End Summary. 
 
Altercation Leads to Strike 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The problems at DK Textiles Company in the northern Al 
Hassan QIZ near Irbid began on January 21 when a Bangladeshi 
supervisor and a Bangladeshi employee got into a physical 
altercation.  MOL interviews with Bangladeshi workers, Jordanian 
workers, and management could not clarify who started the fight. 
Apparently, the reason for the altercation related to a request by 
the employee for leave abroad and a drop in production by the 
employee when this leave was not immediately approved by the 
supervisor because the owner/General Manager Sergio Domovisky was in 
Israel at the time. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) According to MOL, both individuals went to the police 
station and filed complaints against one another.  They were 
subsequently detained and requested to submit a medical report.  The 
supervisor submitted such a report but the employee did not.  The 
supervisor was released the same day because the complaint against 
him was not supported by a medical report.  MOL, the Bangladeshi 
Embassy, and management undertook mediation efforts between the two, 
which resulted in the supervisor withdrawing his complaint. 
Consequently, the employee was released from detention on January 
¶23. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) 93 Bangladeshi workers had gone on strike on January 21 
demanding the release of the employee.  The strike, however, 
continued after the employee was released.  Workers did not give the 
legally required 14-day notice, rendering the strike illegal.  On 
January 21, MOL gave workers verbal warning of the illegality of the 
strike, and on January 22, MOL issued a letter to the workers 
informing them of the same.  Workers did not return to work, 
demanding at that time that the supervisor be dismissed.  Management 
suggested transferring the supervisor to a position where there was 
no direct contact with the Bangladeshi workers, but workers refused. 
 
 
Strike Leads to Factory Closure 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Domovisky, an Israeli-Argentine, told MOL, at the time of 
the strike, that he could not return to Jordan due to events in Gaza 
and threats against his life.  He claimed that the ongoing strike 
caused the company substantial financial losses which led to the 
factory closing down on February 16.  This decision left 
approximately 93 foreign workers with back wages and other benefits 
 
due for January.  NOTE:  Under local labor law, a worker can be 
dismissed after 10 consecutive working days of absence without a 
valid reason.  Since DK workers were informed that the strike was 
illegal, DK management had the legal right to consider their absence 
from work as absence without a valid reason and after following the 
required procedure, dismissed workers accordingly.  MOL confirmed 
that these 93 workers were entitled to their back wages and unused 
annual leave to be paid by DK.  Under the law, management could also 
file a lawsuit against the workers for the remaining period of the 
contract but has not indicated such intent to date.  END NOTE. 
Another 51 DK guest workers were working at another factory in Cyber 
City where DK rented space under an agreement between the two 
factories.  MOL reported that those workers were paid their January 
wages on February 15 in the presence of local labor inspectors. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) MOL Advisor Lejo Sibbel estimated to Emboffs that the 
outstanding wages and annual leave benefits to the DK workers 
totaled around $40,000.  The MOL has been in contact with Domovisky, 
who remains abroad, to try to secure payment of dues.  Domovisky 
reportedly explained to MOL that the factory received its contracts 
through Al-Masera factory in Jordan, which gets orders from Tefron 
in Israel (ref A).  Domovisky claims that Tefron owes it 
$120,000-$130,000 for final deliveries and promised orders.  Once DK 
receives its outstanding payments from Tefron, Domovisky said that 
he would be able to pay the workers their final dues. 
 
90 Workers Repatriated; 28 Transferred to Other Factory 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) During the strike, 93 foreign workers at DK petitioned MOL 
to return home.  Following the closure of the factory, MOL said that 
a large number of DK workers repeated the same request both verbally 
and in writing on several occasions.  Based on their request, MOL 
arranged for these repatriations by facilitating their social 
security refunds and providing them with the airplane tickets paid 
for by the Government of Jordan.  As a result, 26 workers returned 
home on March 20; 39 on March 27; and a final 25 on March 29.  MOL 
arranged for the transfer to a different factory of another 28 DK 
workers, who wished to remain in Jordan.  Sibbel said that the fact 
that workers were transferred demonstrates that workers were not 
deported or forced to leave Jordan, contrary to some NLC 
allegations.  Twelve workers also ran away, according to MOL. 
 
MOL Provided Food and Water 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) MOL strove to ensure the well-being of the workers was 
safeguarded.  MOL inspectors frequently visited the dormitory during 
the period of the strike.  During most visits, the inspectors only 
found 10-20 workers present in the dormitory.  MOL provided and paid 
for food and water.  On February 16, MOL inspectors approached the 
workers in the dormitories and asked them if any of them felt they 
were in need of medical attention.  Subsequently, 18 workers were 
transported to the clinic of the Textile Union, though prior to this 
no worker had indicated they were in need of medical attention.  The 
doctor examined all and prescribed medicine for some minor 
complaints.  At that time, the Union offered to pay for the 
prescriptions but apparently only did so for one.  MOL subsequently 
agreed to pay for the prescriptions of the workers. 
 
Legal Representation Provided by Bangladeshi Embassy 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) MOL contacted the Bangladeshi Embassy to arrange for legal 
representation for the DK workers.  Toufiq Islam Shatil, Second 
Secretary at the Embassy, confirmed to Econoff on April 7 that a 
lawyer filed a legal case in Jordanian courts against the company on 
behalf of 145 Bangladeshi workers.  Shatil said legal fees will be 
paid by the Bangladeshi Embassy, and a verdict is expected in April. 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) In addition to several visits by Shatil to the factory, 
he indicated that the Bangladeshi Ambassador to Jordan visited the 
factory once to try to mitigate problems with the workers.  Shatil 
confirmed that there were issues on both sides, since the strike was 
not "valid" and management "abandoned" the workers due to ensuing 
financial problems.  According to Shatil, the Bangladeshi Embassy 
 
 
was happy, however, with the way that the Jordanian government 
handled the situation and ensured the welfare of the Bangladeshi 
workers. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Comment:  The GOJ has steadily improved its capacity to 
respond to strikes in coordination with relevant stakeholders. 
Still strikes in Jordan are complex and this particular case 
illustrates some facets:  absentee owner, worker-on-worker violence, 
and the role of the market fluctuations.  Regrettably, NLC reports 
which in the past spurred the GOJ to act, have contained 
inaccuracies and have had some severe repercussions on garment 
factories in Jordan when recipients of the information take the 
allegations at face value as true.  This is the second time that a 
complicated situation at DK became the subject of an NLC report with 
inaccurate information, although this time the NLC only raised 
allegations via email with MOL, U.S. buyers, and other relevant 
parties.  The first NLC report on DK in November 2007, which also 
contained inaccuracies and was published on the NLC website, 
reportedly led to Victoria Secret's withdrawing orders from DK (ref 
C).  On top of the difficulties in the garment sector due to the 
global recession, the factory indicated to MOL that this second 
strike was basically the nail in the coffin.  MOL welcomed any 
information on Tefron's position regarding DK that the U.S. 
government may be able to provide, i.e., through Embassy Tel Aviv. 
Additional closures of some of the smaller factories in Jordan are 
expected as long as apparel orders from the U.S. continue to decline 
(ref B).  Post continues to encourage the Jordanian government's 
ongoing efforts to ensure that QIZ workers are properly cared for in 
such situations. 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
Beecroft