AMMAN — Although the
Jordanian economy was subjected
to turbulence during the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Kingdom’s garment sector has proven to be “resilient,” according
to a Better Work Project report issued by the International Labor Organization
and the International Finance Corporation.
اضافة اعلان
The report stated that
“COVID-19 has had a major financial and human impact on the garment sector in
Jordan.”
According to the
report, in 2020, exports decreased by 15 percent, six factories shut down, and there
were approximately 7,000 fewer workers in participating factories. In January
2021, 10 percent of employees across 46 of 88 factories had tested positive for
the coronavirus across. The report also stated that “
Jordanian workers were
paid minimum wage but barred from working during some months of the year to
limit the spread of COVID-19,” while “migrant workers continued working, albeit
with reduced hours, which impacted their ability to send money home to their
families.”
Tariq Abu Qaoud, director
of
Better Work Project, told
Jordan News over the phone that “46 percent
of workers in the garment industry are seeing a decrease in their income, 25
percent are working less, and 15 percent have debts which they cannot pay due
to the pandemic.”
The report also indicated
that 72 percent of workers in the exporting garment sector are women, while 76 percent
are migrants mainly from South Asia.
The report highlighted
some vulnerabilities and “severe violations” in the garment sector in the
Kingdom, specifically in terms of adopting measures to ensure decent working
conditions.
“COVID-19 has exposed
some weaknesses in the industry in terms of compliance and provision of decent
working conditions. Many factories had to prioritize COVID-19-related changes,
which led to delays in addressing persistent issues and other violations,” read
the report. “A small number of factories had severe violations, such as forced
labor, inaccurate and late payment of wages, and reductions in the number of
meals provided to workers.”
The report lauded J-GATE
(Jordan Garments, Accessories & Textiles Exporters Association) advocacy
efforts which led to a change in government policies towards the sector during
the pandemic.
“The country
effectively shut down in mid-March, but stakeholders from the garment sector,
led by J-GATE, were able to successfully lobby the government to allow
production to resume for garment factories with additional health and safety
measures in place,” according to the report. “In addition, J-GATE played a
pivotal role in lobbying the government to relax the rules around contracts to
allow migrant workers who had been working at factories that went out of
business to be transferred to new ones.”
The report alluded to
the Trade Agreements ratified by Jordan — most notably its agreement with
the United States.
The report read, “The
most significant agreement is the United States-Jordan Free Trade Agreement,
which gives Jordan preferential duty rates and quota-free access to the US
market. The report also pointed to Jordan’s agreement with the EU, which “applies
to three non-garment sectors” and has “driven Better Work Jordan’s expansion
into plastics, chemicals, and engineering sectors.”
“Globally the pandemic
had a negative impact on the garment industry estimated at 30-50 percent, but
domestically the sector was affected by a 15-20 percent due to the decrease in
exports to the United States which is the destination for most of our garment
exports,” said Abu Qaoud.
“Six factories out of 96 have
closed, 7,000 people out of 65,000 have lost their jobs due to the pandemic,”
added Abu Qaoud.
Abu Qaoud highlighted
the inoculation efforts exerted in the garment and textile sector to ensure
that workers are immunized and working in safe conditions.
“42,000 out of 65,000
have taken at least the first dose of the vaccine; we consider this as a big
achievement for the government and investors alike,” said Abu Qaoud.
Fathallah Al-Omrani,
president of the General Trade Union of Workers in Textile Garment and Clothing
Industry, explained why Jordan’s exports of garment to the United Stated saw a
severe drop.
“Our exports to the United
States decreased due to four main reasons. First, order quantities saw a
remarkable drop, second, the work flaw saw disruptions due to cases of COVID-19
among workers, third, the pandemic also disrupted the supply chain and trade routes,
and fourth, countries like China were unable to export and deliver raw
materials to us so the time schedule was disrupted as well.”
Omrani added that
during the pandemic, “many workers finished their contract period but could not
travel back due to the border shutdowns … No more than 10,000 jobs were lost in
the sector but we could not get replacements for the same reason.”
Mohammad Zyoud, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Labor, contended that
“the ministry deals firmly with any labor complaints on wages or ending
contract,” adding that employers “are obliged to pay wages to workers during
the pandemic and those who do not comply will be dealt with in accordance with
the law.”
According to Zyoud, “Any employer who proceeds to terminate the contracts of
workers in violation of the defense law is obliged to return the employee to
work.”
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