On Labour Day, unionists reiterate call to raise minimum wage

AMMAN — As Jordan marks Labour Day on Sunday, the debate over raising the minimum wage continues.

General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions President Mazen Maaytah said a trilateral committee on labour affairs, including representatives from the public and private sectors, has held several meetings to discuss raising the minimum monthly wage from JD190 to JD300.

Some committee members agreed to this, but one representative suggested the figure should be JD220, Maaytah told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, noting that when there is no consensus reached, the decision of the majority is submitted to the Council of Ministers for further examination.

The trilateral committee consists of the labour minister as chair, and nine members representing the ministry, employers and employees.

Last week, the Labour Ministry said the trilateral committee decided to refer its recommendations on raising the minimum wage to Labour Minister Nidal Katamine, who was expected to refer it to the Cabinet to take a decision.

The committee had failed to reach a consensus on the issue, Labour Ministry Spokesperson Mohammad Khatib said at the time.

Maaytah stressed the need for reconsidering wages to offset the gap between salaries and living expenses, noting that the poverty line is estimated at around JD500 to JD600, according to studies.

He added that the relation between workers and workplaces should be governed by the law, in terms of wages, working hours and holidays, noting that failing to abide by the law affects productivity and competitiveness. 

The national annual poverty line for 2010 was set at JD813.7 per individual.

The Department of Statistics (DoS) said Jordanian workers continue to face several challenges, mainly competition by guest workers.

In a statement, DoS said guest workers have denied Jordanians several job opportunities, causing the unemployment rate to remain unchanged despite efforts to reduce it.

A 2015 population census revealed that unemployment among Jordanians is close to 17 per cent, or 3.5 percentage points higher than the official statistics.

Unemployment among Jordanians who hold university degrees stands at 20.2 per cent, according to DoS figures covering the first quarter of 2016. 

Unemployment among males who hold bachelor’s degrees was 22.2 per cent, while among females, it was 76.7 per cent.

The Kingdom’s general unemployment rate in the January-March period stood at 14.6 per cent — 12.7 per cent among males and 23.7 per cent for females. Irbid registered the highest joblessness rate (18.5 per cent), while Amman had the lowest (11 per cent).