LABOR MINISTER ASSURES FOCUS ON PROMOTING LABOR

UNCLAS AMMAN 000706

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ELA, GTIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ECON ETRD KTEX JO
SUBJECT: LABOR MINISTER ASSURES FOCUS ON PROMOTING LABOR
RIGHTS AND COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

REF: A. AMMAN 429

B. AMMAN 226

C. 08 AMMAN 3359

D. 08 AMMAN 2206


1. (SBU) Summary: Minister of Labor Ghazi Shbeikat promised
a strong focus on promoting labor rights and combating
trafficking in persons (TIP) during a March 10 courtesy call
with the Ambassador. The Minister expects that the remaining
36 amendments to the labor law, including a revised article
to allow foreign workers to join unions, will be placed on
the agenda for the parliament's extraordinary session in May
or June 2009 (ref D). He highlighted Jordan's passage of an
anti-TIP law as a positive step forward, and assured that the
Government of Jordan (GOJ) would continue to work on
establishing a joint police-inspection unit and creating a
shelter for TIP victims. Given the negative effects of the
global economic crisis on the garment industry in Jordan,
Shbeikat mentioned that the government was looking at
temporary measures to support the sector through this
difficult economic period. The Minister indicated he would
like to visit the U.S. at an appropriate time in the near
future, which would be an opportunity for informing relevant
U.S. parties about Jordan's efforts to improve working
conditions and protect labor rights. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Newly appointed in February 2009, Labor Minister
Shbeikat stressed that the Ministry would focus even more on
promoting labor rights under his leadership. Indicating that
labor rights would also be a priority for the current U.S.
administration, the Ambassador urged the GOJ to submit the
remaining labor law amendments to parliament, including an
amendment that would give foreign workers the right to
unionize and receive full representation rights. Shbeikat
responded that the Ministry of Labor (MOL) planned to propose
to the Prime Minister on March 11 that the remaining labor
law amendments be submitted to parliament during its
extraordinary session, tentatively scheduled for May or June

2009. Shbeikat noted that parliament rejected an amendment
to allow foreign workers to join unions in 2008, but MOL
planned to submit a revised article to this effect. He also
confirmed that the MOL continues to work on drafting by-laws
to implement the amendment approved in July 2008 that
extended the labor law to domestic workers, noting the
challenge of creating regulations that will effectively
enable household inspections by MOL.


3. (SBU) Shbeikat highlighted some of the improvements
Jordan had made in combating trafficking in persons (TIP),in
particular the passage of an anti-TIP law which was recently
published in the Official Gazette (ref A). He said that the
MOL plans to focus on operationalizing the joint labor-police
inspection unit, noting that a team had visited Italy and
planned to visit the Netherlands shortly to learn from their
experiences. He also stressed the need to initiate the
process for establishing a shelter, including the drafting of
by-laws, which would be championed by the Ministry of Social
Development.


4. (SBU) The Minister confirmed that Jordan's garment
industry was vulnerable to the economic slowdown in the U.S.,
and as a result, several factories in the Qualifying
Industrial Zones (QIZs) had closed within the last year or
faced downsizing (ref B). Fearing the "worst is yet to
come," he noted that the government was reviewing a proposal
to support the garment industry on a temporary basis through
various initiatives such as subsidizing transportation or
waiving visa fees for foreign workers in exchange for hiring
more Jordanians. He highlighted the five new satellite QIZs
as a bright spot, however, that would increase Jordanian
employment in the sector (ref C).


5. (SBU) The Ambassador reinforced the need for proactive
GOJ communication with the public and private sectors on
ongoing actions by the Jordanian government to enhance
working conditions and protect labor rights, as well as any
statistics that could demonstrate the impact of such
measures. Shbeikat indicated that he might wish to visit the
U.S. in the near future, when the time is right, to showcase

Jordan's efforts.

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