GOJ WORKING TO REPATRIATE STRIKING VIETNAMESE

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 000902 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, DRL, PRM ALSO FOR NEA/ELA, EAP, AND INL STATE PASS TO USTR LABOR FOR ILAB/RUDE E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/25/2018 TAGS: ELAB PHUM SMIG JO VN SUBJECT: GOJ WORKING TO REPATRIATE STRIKING VIETNAMESE WORKERS REF: A. HANOI 309 ¶B. HATTAYER-TAYLOR/ANZALDUA E-MAIL OF MARCH 11 ¶C. GREENE-TAYLOR E-MAIL OF MARCH 3 Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Jordan's Ministry of Labor is actively working with 176 striking Vietnamese workers, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Government of Vietnam (GVN) to resolve any impediments to their voluntary return from Jordan to Vietnam. Minister of Labor Salem is frustrated at GVN negotiators presently in Amman who oppose IOM involvement in a solution, and fears that a solution excluding IOM will leave the perception that the GOJ is party to trafficking. The GOJ retrieved the workers' passports from factory management on March 20, and will return them to workers in the coming days as arrangements for repatriation are finalized. The MOL welcomes IOM assistance in facilitating a voluntary repatriation of workers who want to return to Vietnam. Negotiations over IOM's role and logistical arrangements for the return of workers between the three parties: the GOJ, the GVN, and IOM continue. Department may wish to suggest to Embassy Hanoi that the GVN be approached about its position regarding IOM involvement. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Minister of Labor Bassem Salem told Ambassador Hale on March 25 that his ministry is working energetically to resolve the situation of the striking Vietnamese workers. During the Ambassador's call to Salem, the Minister expressed frustration with GVN representatives who backed out of a deal that would involve IOM in facilitating the voluntary repatriation of the striking Vietnamese workers who want to return home. ¶3. (SBU) Ministry of Labor Advisor Lejo Sibbel told poloff on March 25 that negotiations with workers, factory management, the IOM, and GVN were well underway to allow for the voluntary repatriation of the 176 striking Vietnamese workers at the W & D Apparel Company in the al-Tajamouat Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) in Sahab. Sibbel confirmed that the GOJ retrieved the passports of 158 workers previously held by management on March 20, and would return them once arrangements for their return home had been made. NOTE: On or about February 13, factory management reportedly attempted to return the passports to striking workers, but after returning only 18 passports, a melee ensued, and management took control of the bag of remaining passports. END NOTE. ¶4. (SBU) Sibbel also told poloff that the GVN delegation remains in Jordan negotiating an agreement for repatriation. Mr. Boi, a former Vietnamese ambassador and currently a Vietnamese MFA Deputy Director General, is the delegation head and primary negotiator. According to Sibbel, workers have agreed to be voluntarily repatriated in groups (vice a previous offer from the GVN to provide a charter flight). The GVN is making commercial travel arrangements, and workers could depart Jordan by the end of the week. Sibbel hoped that all workers could be returned to Vietnam by April 1. ¶5. (SBU) Before departing Jordan, the Jordanian MOL would undertake several steps to ensure the rights of the workers: (1) the MOL will return their passports; (2) the MOL will ask them to sign a written statement confirming that they are leaving Jordan voluntarily; and (3) the MOL will verify that factory management has paid workers any and all back wages, outstanding annual leave, or other benefits to which they might be entitled. ¶6. (C) Sibbel and local IOM trafficking expert Theodora Suter explained to poloff that the GOJ has requested IOM support in arranging for the repatriation of the striking workers. Suter said that IOM is prepared to assist with arranging for logistics such as transport and to provide medical screening. According to Suter, GVN representatives told their office in Hanoi that they would not/not formally request IOM assistance. Sibbel lamented this development, and said the GOJ would welcome an IOM role to provide greater transparency. Sibbel confided that although he is confident that the GOJ can manage the logistics of the repatriations, he believes that critics and interested parties abroad would have greater confidence in the voluntary nature of the repatriation with an active IOM role. Sibbel encouraged the USG to work with the GVN to put forward such a request. ¶7. (SBU) Suter noted that in light of the lack of a request from the GVN, but clear indications of support from the GOJ, the IOM Amman office would discuss the matter further when the IOM Chief of Mission returns on March 26. Suter praised the Jordanian MOL for the seriousness and professionalism with which it has addressed the issue thus far. She further promised to keep the embassy apprised of IOM's decisions. BACKGROUND -------------- ¶8. (SBU) On February 10, approximately 261 workers in the W & D Apparel factory of al-Tajamouat QIZ went on strike protesting wage payments that they believed differed from the contracts they signed with recruiting agents in Vietnam. According to the Jordanian MOL, the workers did not provide the 14-day notice required by the Jordanian labor code, and therefore their strike was illegal under Jordanian law. According to workers, management made the workers two counter-offers, which 85 of the striking workers accepted and returned to work. ¶9. (SBU) On February 20, striking workers assaulted those workers who chose to return to work and destroyed their personal property. To restore order, factory management called the Jordanian Public Security Directorate (PSD) and violence between striking workers and the PSD ensued. ¶10. (SBU) Following altercations with the police, IOM Amman provided doctors to attend to the medical treatment of striking workers on February 27. According to IOM and MOL representatives, their examinations revealed bruises, but no broken bones. Vietnamese workers confirmed to Polcouns during his March 1 visit to the QIZ that PSD action against striking workers was prompted by worker-on-worker violence. By the time of this visit, the physical conditions had stabilized; non-striking workers returned to the assembly line, and striking workers remained on strike and looking for greater concessions or the opportunity to go home. MOL requested an independent investigation by the PSD into the use of force, but had not received a report as of March 25. ¶11. (SBU) On March 1, striking and non-striking workers told Embassy Amman's Vietnamese-speaking Polcouns (ref C) that their primary issue with management was a discrepancy in the payment of their wages and the amount of overtime that management made them work. Workers complained that they were promised a fixed wage contract and management initiated a scheme to provide piecework incentives to higher producing workers. The MOL investigated the workers' claims of wage inaccuracies, and determined that workers were being paid according to the terms of their contracts and Jordanian Labor Law - which requires deductions for income and social security taxes and allows for other deductions provided they are written into the contract. ¶12. (SBU) There is no Vietnamese diplomatic or consular representation in Jordan. The Vietnamese Deputy Consul General Tran Viet Tu, based in Cairo, first visited workers on March 1. The GVN followed-up with a nine-member delegation to Jordan beginning on March 10 consisting of representatives of the MFA, MOL and Vietnamese recruiting agencies (ref B). Member of that delegation remain in Jordan to negotiate with workers and the GOJ. HALE