Civil society organizations issued a press release on Saturday calling on the Government to repeal the Labor Law.
The press release issued by the Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights, the Phenix Center for Economic and Informatics Studies and the Jordanian Workers' House for Studies said that the articles under discussion are not the only ones that need to be amended, as there are many articles in the Labor Law which were of a more urgent priority to be reformed so that they are more aligned with fundamental labor standards and rights.
The press release stated that the final version of the amendments of the Parliamentary Labour Committee have not yet been issued, and therefore called for the Labour Law to be repealed in whole and to be amended in its entirety, rather than only the 10 articles sent from the Government to the Parliament being amended.
The civil society organizations emphasized that the articles under discussion are not the only ones that need to be amended, and that there are articles which are in more urgent need for amendment. They also demanded a greater discussion on the articles approved by the Parliamentary Labour Committee in the House of Representatives, so that the articles become more in line with the Jordanian Constitution and international standards and conventions.
They highlighted that the Labour Law must be amended in whole rather than in parts, noting that this is evident by the fact that individual articles of the Labor Law are frequently considered for amendment. Thus, they demand that all articles of the Labor Law be opened for discussion with the participation of all stakeholders, so that a consensus can be reached.
The three organizations launched a campaign calling on the Government to withdraw the bill and calling for Parliament members to reject it and to open a public debate for all required amendments and avoid continuous amendments. The law has been subject to 12 amendments since 1996 and, as of today, is on the verge of a thirteenth amendment.