Labour associations call for improving workers’ condition

AMMAN — Representatives of labour associations agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the intensity of violations that workers go through on a daily basis.

During a session on the occasion of International Workers’ Day, organised by the Jordan Labour Watch of the Phoenix Centre for Economics and Information Studies, the representatives said that many workers in various sectors faced injustice by employers through reducing wages and layoffs on the pretexts of the pandemic.

Bushra Salman, deputy head of the general association of workers in food industries, said that despite the association signing three collective contracts that aimed to ensure job stability, some workers were still affected, according to a statement from the organisers on Monday.

Nariman Shawaheen, coordinator of the “Stand with the teacher” campaign, said that 70 per cent of female teachers were forced to sign resignation letters leading to depriving them of salaries during the summer holiday.

Shawaheen also noted that many female teachers in the private sector are not registered with the Social Security Corporation (SSC), and as such they have not benefited from the support programme Estidama provided by the SSC.

Suleiman Jamaani, head of the independent labour associations, said that the pandemic came at a time when economic conditions for workers were already challenging due to tax shortcomings and corruption in state institutions.

Jamaani said that violations during the pandemic are numerous and can be overcome through halting the Defence Order and immediately starting defending labourers and gaining their rights.