Agreement settles labour dispute at SSC-owned hotels

AMMAN — The General Trade Union for Public Services  and Free Vocations, along with the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) company, which manages Social Security Corporation (SSC) owned-hotels, on Monday  signed a collective, three-year labour agreement covering all 1,600 employees of the hotels at a total cost estimated at JD1 million.

Signed by the union president, Khalid Abu Marjoub, and the regional director of Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) in Jordan and Lebanon, Naif Zeriqat, the agreement ends the labour dispute between the two parties, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

The agreement was reached during the "conciliation council" phase, based on legal procedures outlined in the labour law for dealing with labour disputes.

Under the agreement, the hotel group has agreed to adjust the salaries of all employees who receive less than the minimum wage, so that their monthly salaries will be separate from the "service allowance", starting from April 1. Thus, the service allowance that hotel workers receive will be paid as a bonus, rather than being included as a portion of their salaries, according to Petra.

The agreement also provides annual increases for all workers in 2023, based on their total salary.