AMMAN — The majority
of farmworkers have no access to basic labor rights, simply because they work
on the margins of the mainstream economy, officials, experts, and activists
agreed.
اضافة اعلان
Last week the
government announced that it had allocated JD448 million to ease economic
hardships resulting from COVID-19. The relief package includes funds dedicated
to sustaining jobs in the private sector and an expansion of the social safety
program, which delivers direct cash support from the government.
However, most of
Jordan’s farmers and agricultural workers are not registered with the Social
Security Corporation — preventing them from accessing this support.
“We have approximately
115,000 farmers in Jordan and most of them suffer from” a lack of access to
social security, according to Mahmoud Rabei, assistant secretary-general for
agricultural resources at the Ministry of Agriculture. “The number of
registered establishments in the agricultural sectors in 2017 was only 111
establishments.”
He said in an
interview with Jordan News that a lack of registration problem exists
throughout different sectors in the agriculture industry, including “vegetable
farms, crop farms, small poultry farms, small cattle farms, and other areas of
the agricultural sector.”
The lack of
registration is blamed on the existence of “unofficial and informal
agricultural establishments, which are not registered in the Ministry of
Industry, Trade, and Supply and do not possess a national number,” Rabei said.
“This means that even
if a farmer is free to register for social security on his own, he cannot do so
as a worker because his establishment is most likely not registered with the
ministry and does not have a registration number which is necessary to register
the workers in the social security system.”
Likewise, Methqal
Zanati, President of the Jordanian Farmers Union, confirmed in an interview
with Jordan News that “thousands of farmers are not registered and do
not have social security … Right now this process is closer to dreams than
reality.”
Zanati criticized the
performance of civil society institutions, particularly for their “failure to support” the
agricultural sector.
“We will never be able
to find solutions for these people without forming an organization that listens
to their problems,” he said. “We can estimate that the number of these farmers
and workers amounts to hundreds of thousands. It is an entire national army
that needs organization.”
The Jordanian
agriculture sector is relatively small but vital. The sector contributes about
4 percent of the country’s GDP, equaling $1.39 billion, and made up 18 percent
of Jordan’s exports (or $6.2 billion) in 2016, according to the 2017 Jordan
Investment Commission Report. The report also found that income from the sector
supported around 80,000 families in both rural and urban areas.
Lack of formal
recognition as workers and lack of registration with social security has a
tangible impact on workers providing some of Jordan’s fruits, vegetables, and
animal products, according to Zanati. He listed some of the consequences: “No
source of income, no work injury compensations, no pension in the future. These
are some of the things that they will suffer, not to mention that they are
disadvantaged in many things like leaves, vacations, unavailability of
nurseries for their children, and the list goes on.”
Progress is being made
through the legislature, according to Mohammad Al-Zyoud, media spokesman for
the Ministry of Labor. “The Council of Ministers approved the Agricultural
Workers’ Bylaw for the year 2021, in view of the working conditions of
agricultural workers, and with the aim of streamlining work in this sector. It
covers all categories of workers without discrimination in rights,” including
social security benefits, he said in a message to Jordan News.
But one labor expert
described the bylaw as “very poor” in terms of social protection. “Many of the
protections for the workers in the agriculture sector are not available in this
bylaw,” said Ahmad Awad, Director of Phenix Center for Economic Studies, who
viewed the bylaw several months ago. “We think that the workers will pay the
price.” Awad also said that he has been working for 12 years to expand Article
3 of the Labor Code to include agricultural workers.
Workers in the
agricultural sector in Jordan are often marginalized due to both gender and
migration status, according to Awad. “We can say half of (workers in the
agricultural sector) are migrant workers, mainly Egyptians. Some of them are
Syrian. The others are from other nationalities, such as Pakistanis, Yemenis,
and others,” he told Jordan News.
Meanwhile, “Most of
the Jordanian workers working in the field are women.” He said farmworkers are
“suffering from different violations: long working hours, low wages, and lack
of coverage by social security,” at the time their work is seasonal and on per
diem basis.
Awad also tied lack of
social security in the agricultural sector to Jordan’s unemployment problem.
“We are suffering from high levels of unemployment,” he said. “If you would
like to encourage Jordanian men to work in this sector, you should improve the
working conditions. One of the main components of decent working conditions is
social security.”
“They will not benefit
from” the COVID-19 relief package, Awad said. “Which is a disaster.”
“I must stress on how
crucial it is to find a root solution to all the problems these people face,”
Zanati said. “We must climb down the high trees to feel these people who work
on land.”
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