Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08AMMAN2600
2008-09-08 12:25:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

Workers Strike at Mediterranean Resources Apparel Industry

Tags:  ELAB ECON ETRD EAID KTIP KTEX JO 
pdf how-to read a cable
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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
-------

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