LABOR ROUNDUP: ILO PROGRAM; FTA; POVERTY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001533

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2013
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM PREL JO
SUBJECT: LABOR ROUNDUP: ILO PROGRAM; FTA; POVERTY
ALLEVIATION

REF: A. AMMAN 313

B. AMMAN 02 03761

Classified By: AMBASSADOR EDWARD W. GNEHM. REASONS 1.5 (B) and (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY. On March 5, the GOJ and the International
Labor Organization signed a long-awaited memorandum of
understanding on a program to develop "internal social
dialogue." The three year program (one of two ILO programs
here) is funded exclusively by the U.S. Department of Labor
with approximately 1.4 million USD. Based on our meetings
with Minister of Labor Muzahim Muhaisin and ILO Regional
Director Taleb Rifai, we believe the GOJ and ILO are in a
good position to cooperate on labor issues for the
foreseeable future.


2. (C) In our meetings, Rifai focused on the positive impact
the Free Trade Agreement could have on labor issues here.
Muhaisin, by contrast, concentrated on programs to alleviate
poverty and unemployment through vocational training. END
SUMMARY.

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LABOR MINISTER AND ILO ON THE SAME PAGE - FINALLY
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3. (C) On January 14, PolCouns and PolOff met with Taleb
Rifai, newly appointed Regional Director of the ILO (note:
Rifai had been Jordan's Minister of Tourism prior to the ILO
appointment - ref a). PolCouns asked about the status of the
long-delayed 1.4 million USD ILO program to increase
communication among labor, management and government, funded
entirely by the U.S. Department of Labor. Rifai chalked up
the delay in the official roll-out of the "internal social
dialogue" program to personality differences between previous
ILO personnel and LabMin Muhaisin. He predicted the program
would move forward successfully once a memorandum of
understanding was signed, like the recently launched ILO
program that focuses on elimination of child labor.


4. (C) PolOff and PolCouns subsequently met with Labor
Minister Muhaisin on January 28. He admitted the Labor
Ministry had "made mistakes" at the outset of the social
dialogue program, but was also ultimately confident the
program would be a success. PolCouns noted the USG is
interested in the ILO program, not only because it is
entirely funded by the DOL, but because we want to be sure
that such programs meet the needs of Jordan, and because such
programs help implement the labor provisions of the US/Jordan
FTA.

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ILO PROGRAM ON LINE - FINALLY
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5. (SBU) On March 5, the GOJ and ILO signed the long-awaited
MOU for the social dialogue program. The program will assist
in improving communications among labor actors including the
MOL, unions, workers and factory managers. The program is
also designed to enhance collective bargaining, and
strengthen the capacity of the ministry to enforce
"fundamental working rights." The program calls specifically
for the "enhancement of work and employment conditions for
both men and women in the Qualifying Industrial Zones."
Note: QIZ labor conditions have, and continue to meet, ILO
standards for work conditions (ref b).

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FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
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6. (C) During our January meeting, ILO Regional Head Rifai
made clear he is aware of the FTA, which requires both the US
and Jordan, as members of the ILO, to ensure that trade is
not encouraged by relaxing domestic labor laws, or by not
enforcing existing laws (per Article 6 of the FTA). Rifai
characterized Jordanian labor standards as relatively good
and was confident Jordanian labor laws will not become an
issue vis-a-vis article 6 of the FTA. However, Rifai was
realistic that outside of the QIZs it would be more
challenging to make immediate improvements to labor
conditions, since most ventures in Jordan are on a small
scale, and do not have access to large amounts of capital.
This contrasts with the QIZs, Rifai said, and their ability
to centrally manage large numbers of workers and their
working conditions.

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LABOR MINISTRY: MORE INSPECTORS, MORE VOCATIONAL TRAINING,
FIGHT POVERTY
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7. (C) In the January 28 meeting with LabMin, PolCouns
emphasized the importance of labor standards in the FTA.
Muhaisin seemed unaware of the FTA provision, and was more
focused on reducing the demand for foreign labor at the QIZs
by improving the quality of the local work force via
vocational training programs. More jobs would lead to less
poverty, which is a cornerstone goal of the GOJ. "Poverty is
a national issue. Jordanians like to act as if they are
rich. We are not. We are poor." Aside from vocational
training for numerous "blue collar" fields, Muhaisin noted a
new program, in conjunction with Jordan University, that
focuses on "white collar" job training. Muhaisin also said
the ministry has hired more labor inspectors, bringing the
total number to 85, and was implementing a program whereby
inspectors get bonuses for uncovering labor violations.
Finally, Muhaisin noted that segments of the agricultural
sector (i.e. engineers) and domestic help are now covered by
the labor law.

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COMMENT
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8. (C) We were impressed with Rifai's knowledge of the
emerging labor issues of most importance to Jordan in the
near future, i.e. FTA and QIZ. He is aware of the linkage
between the FTA, the growing QIZ textile sector, and the
resulting emergence of attention from international labor
NGOs and unions. Rifai's previous experience with the ILO,
and his familiarity with Jordan and the GOJ should provide
for a cooperative ILO-GOJ relationship. We are pleased to
see the ILO "social dialogue" program finally out of the barn
and moving into action; as both ILO programs here are funded
exclusively with Department of Labor money, we will continue
to monitor them.


9. (C) We expect Muhaisin's vocational training effort to
have marginal effects despite his enthusiasm. Labor and
business sector contacts tell us the GOJ's programs are, at
best, not as effective as they could be. The programs are
generally seen as poorly targeted (i.e. training an equal
number of textile workers and hair dressers in an economy
that has a shortage of the former and a surplus of the
latter) and of inferior quality. On the other hand, QIZ
exporters train workers through in-house training over a
six-week period, often with innovative training techniques.
They report good results in their efforts to train local
workers, but have limited floor space and resources to train
as many Jordanian workers as they would like to have working
for them. Most QIZ exporters indicate they would like to
work with the GOJ to train Jordanian labor, but have not been
able to communicate effectively with the GOJ on how to best
achieve this goal.


10. (SBU) USAID has been working with the GOJ on modernizing
its vocational training system and linking it with current
market demand. We will continue to encourage the Ministry to
communicate better with management and labor in order to
optimize their vocational training, and we expect the "social
dialogue" program to provide some help in these efforts.
GNEHM