“We would like to reiterate the government of Jordan’s position that we take these allegations very seriously and will not tolerate any labor violations against our guest workers and take all steps necessary to ensure the treatment of guest workers is in accordance with international standards,” Jordan said in a statement released by its embassy in Washington .Last week, the AFL-CIO labor federation and the National Textile Association asked the Bush administration to initiate formal trade litigation against the Arab kingdom for violating labor provisions of the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement . “Their demand follows a report this year by the National Labor Committee for Worker and Human Rights, a New York advocacy group, which said tens of thousands of foreign workers in Jordan’s textile sector were routinely forced to work 100-plus hours a week while being cheated of full wages”.Workers who complained risked being beaten, imprisoned or even deported without being paid, the report said” . “The government of Jordan is surprised and dismayed by the actions of the AFL-CIO and the National Textile Association” because both groups should know Amman has already taken many steps to correct the abuses, the embassy statement said .Those include closing down five factories and relocating more than 1,000 workers from 14 factories that were found to be in violation of Jordan’s labor laws to factories with better working conditions, the embassy statement said .Jordan has also increased the number of labor inspectors from 80 to 180 and commissioned outside auditors to examine company records with respect to wages, the statement said .The government has worked with the International Labor Organization to develop a plan to correct labor abuses, and taken steps toward criminal prosecution of some labor violations, the statement said .Source: Reuters .
Date:9/26/2006
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