AMMAN — The
General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions said it rejects the Public Sector
Modernization Committee’s proposal to abolish the Ministry of Labor and reassign
its responsibilities to other ministries, according to Amman Net.
اضافة اعلان
In a press statement received by the
Jordan Labor Observatory, the federation said that Jordanian workers have been asking
for years to have a sovereign
Labor Ministry, and now the government is seeking
to do otherwise through unilateral decisions taken without consulting with stakeholders.
The federation said that the plan to
abolish the Labor Ministry is arbitrary, and an approach to turn Jordan into an
open market with no restrictions on employers and the
private sector, while leaving
workers without protections or job stability. It said that the decision will
lead to laying off thousands of workers, which will raise the unemployment rate
to more than 26 percent.
The federation also said that assigning
the ministry’s responsibilities to different government bodies that will not be
able to carry out the tasks is bound to lead to confusion and be of no help to
workers.
The federation cautioned that the labor
minister is responsible for enforcing the Labor Law, and by abolishing his
role, labor issues will be left without a point of reference, which will lead
to legal pitfalls.
According to the statement, the dissolution
of the Labor Ministry will impact the minimum wage, wage policies, the
Tripartite Committee for Labor Affairs, working hours, official holidays,
annual, sick and maternity leaves, and result in the absence of inspection and
oversight, vocational training, and collective bargaining.
The unexpected layoffs resulting
from the decision will also negatively affect the
Social Security Corporation,
it added.
The federation stressed that the
abolition of the Labor Ministry will weaken labor unions, which are the
umbrella for collective bargaining, especially since Jordan has no law that
regulates union work.
The federation called for the
immediate retraction of the proposal, because of its prejudice to workers and to
the labor market.
The
Public Sector Modernization Committee, consisting of several ministers and two representatives from the
private sector, announced its recommendations, which have not been approved yet
by the government. Its most prominent recommendation was abolishing the Labor
Ministry and distributing its tasks to the ministries of interior, industry, and
education.
The Labor Ministry includes 19
directorates and units within the ministry, 19 directorates in all
governorates, and 12 labor offices.
Read more National news
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
