Worker Rights in Jordan
INTERNATIONAL TRADE DAILY © BNA, Inc.
Copyright (c) 2006 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. INTERNATIONAL TRADE DAILY
May 19, 2006
LENGTH: 703 wordsSECTION: IN TODAY'S ISSUETITLE: Bilateral Agreements: Jordan's Trade Minister to Visit U.S. To Address Concerns Over Worker RightsBYLINE: By Gary G. Yerkey
TEXT:The Jordanian government has decided to dispatch Industry and Commerce Minister Sharif Al Zoubi to the United States next month to help allay congressional concern over reports that foreign workers in Jordan have been subjected to abuse in possible violation of the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement.Diplomatic sources told BNA that Al Zoubi will be spending one day in Washington, D.C., June 15 meeting members of Congress as well as administration officials and private-sector representatives.The sources, who asked not to be identified, said that Al Zoubi's hastily arranged trip to the United States will mean that the annual bilateral consultations that were due to be held in Jordan under the free trade agreement June 12-15 will have to be rescheduled.Earlier this month, a workers' advocacy group known as the National Labor Committee, based in New York, released a report claiming that some apparel manufacturers in Jordan and contractors that supply foreign workers to them, notably from Bangladesh, have been engaging in human trafficking. The report said that foreign workers have also complained of despicable working conditions in some factories, including 20-hour work days, no pay for months, and imprisonment for reporting supervisor abuse.The U.S.-Jordan free trade pact, enacted in 2001, contains provisions providing for consultations in bilateral disputes over workers' rights and the eventual application by the complaining party of "appropriate and commensurate" measures -- widely understood to mean trade sanctions -- in cases where disputes cannot be resolved.Shaun Donnelly, assistant USTR for Europe and the Middle East, May 18 called the allegations contained in the NLC report very serious. "We need to get to the bottom of this," he said.Donnelly, speaking at a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee that was called to consider the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement (see related report, this issue), said that the Jordanian authorities have already taken a number of positive steps to deal with the issue, including ensuring that all workers are paid any back wages due. Jordanian Response.He said that U.S. officials, moreover, met with the authors of the NLC report shortly after it was released, and that they plan to meet again with the authors when they return from a May 17-19 visit to Jordan, where, at the invitation of the Jordanian government, they have been discussing with senior government officials their response to the NLC report and meeting with workers and representatives of the private sector, the International Labor Organization, and other stakeholders.Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), a member of the Finance Committee, said at the committee meeting May 18 that the conditions described in the NLC report were "appalling.""We should not be asking American workers to compete with these sorts of practices," he said.A USTR fact sheet said that the steps taken by the Jordanian government so far to address the issue include the creation of an interministerial committee to oversee the government's response; the formation of nine special inspection teams to visit the factories cited in the NLC report, which will report back to the Jordanian government with findings and recommendations; devoting additional resources to labor enforcement; establishing telephone hot lines in the languages of foreign workers to facilitate the reporting of labor law violations; and engaging through the Jordanian foreign ministry with the Bangladeshi government to address the overseas recruitment abuses reported by the NLC.The U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement -- specifically, Article 6 -- requires both countries to enforce their own labor laws and to strive to ensure that internationally recognized labor standards -- including the right to association, a prohibition against compulsory labor, and acceptable working conditions with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health -- are "recognized and protected by domestic law."Donnelly said earlier this month that the administration will be looking at all its options as it considers the implications of the NLC report. "I don't rule [anything] out," he said.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISHLOAD-DATE: May 18, 2006
Copyright (c) 2006 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. INTERNATIONAL TRADE DAILY
May 19, 2006
LENGTH: 703 wordsSECTION: IN TODAY'S ISSUETITLE: Bilateral Agreements: Jordan's Trade Minister to Visit U.S. To Address Concerns Over Worker RightsBYLINE: By Gary G. Yerkey
TEXT:The Jordanian government has decided to dispatch Industry and Commerce Minister Sharif Al Zoubi to the United States next month to help allay congressional concern over reports that foreign workers in Jordan have been subjected to abuse in possible violation of the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement.Diplomatic sources told BNA that Al Zoubi will be spending one day in Washington, D.C., June 15 meeting members of Congress as well as administration officials and private-sector representatives.The sources, who asked not to be identified, said that Al Zoubi's hastily arranged trip to the United States will mean that the annual bilateral consultations that were due to be held in Jordan under the free trade agreement June 12-15 will have to be rescheduled.Earlier this month, a workers' advocacy group known as the National Labor Committee, based in New York, released a report claiming that some apparel manufacturers in Jordan and contractors that supply foreign workers to them, notably from Bangladesh, have been engaging in human trafficking. The report said that foreign workers have also complained of despicable working conditions in some factories, including 20-hour work days, no pay for months, and imprisonment for reporting supervisor abuse.The U.S.-Jordan free trade pact, enacted in 2001, contains provisions providing for consultations in bilateral disputes over workers' rights and the eventual application by the complaining party of "appropriate and commensurate" measures -- widely understood to mean trade sanctions -- in cases where disputes cannot be resolved.Shaun Donnelly, assistant USTR for Europe and the Middle East, May 18 called the allegations contained in the NLC report very serious. "We need to get to the bottom of this," he said.Donnelly, speaking at a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee that was called to consider the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement (see related report, this issue), said that the Jordanian authorities have already taken a number of positive steps to deal with the issue, including ensuring that all workers are paid any back wages due. Jordanian Response.He said that U.S. officials, moreover, met with the authors of the NLC report shortly after it was released, and that they plan to meet again with the authors when they return from a May 17-19 visit to Jordan, where, at the invitation of the Jordanian government, they have been discussing with senior government officials their response to the NLC report and meeting with workers and representatives of the private sector, the International Labor Organization, and other stakeholders.Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), a member of the Finance Committee, said at the committee meeting May 18 that the conditions described in the NLC report were "appalling.""We should not be asking American workers to compete with these sorts of practices," he said.A USTR fact sheet said that the steps taken by the Jordanian government so far to address the issue include the creation of an interministerial committee to oversee the government's response; the formation of nine special inspection teams to visit the factories cited in the NLC report, which will report back to the Jordanian government with findings and recommendations; devoting additional resources to labor enforcement; establishing telephone hot lines in the languages of foreign workers to facilitate the reporting of labor law violations; and engaging through the Jordanian foreign ministry with the Bangladeshi government to address the overseas recruitment abuses reported by the NLC.The U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement -- specifically, Article 6 -- requires both countries to enforce their own labor laws and to strive to ensure that internationally recognized labor standards -- including the right to association, a prohibition against compulsory labor, and acceptable working conditions with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health -- are "recognized and protected by domestic law."Donnelly said earlier this month that the administration will be looking at all its options as it considers the implications of the NLC report. "I don't rule [anything] out," he said.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISHLOAD-DATE: May 18, 2006
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