Court rules to end dispute between ACT, port workers

AMMAN — The Labour Court has issued its final ruling in the dispute between the Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) and the General Union of Port Workers regarding the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, according to an ACT statement issued Tuesday.

The ruling concludes a negotiation process that began in March 2014 and went through mediation by the Ministry of Labour before it transferred the case to the Labour Court for a final ruling.

In light of this ruling, ACT CEO Jeppe Jensen said the company will honour the commitment it had previously made to its employees on numerous benefits, such as improvements to the housing allowance, university scholarship programme, employee profit share, early retirement programme, annual leave, umra sponsorship programme and social solidarity fund, in addition to the new benefits offered such as education support, life insurance for all employees and a crane operator allowance.

Jensen added that the Labour Court ruling confirms that the terminal is "in its full right to implement a different shift system" in accordance with the Labour Law. 

ACT will therefore proceed with an eight-hour shift system as of December 1, 2014, the company said.

“We are committed to [working] hand-in-hand with our employees and partners to provide the terminal’s clients with the best services in the region, building on the many achievements we have made over the past eight years,” the statement quoted Jensen as saying.

ACT employees had held two open-ended strikes in July and October, demanding a number of benefits.

The company lost JD300,000 to JD400,000 a day during the October strike, which lasted for a week, according to ACT executives.