Jordan Labor Watch - Morad Kotkot
More than 100 contract laborers at the Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) held a protest on Tuesday in front of the company building. Their demands are to secure permanent employment within the company and to obtain all benefits as their fellow colleagues.
Malik Al-Masbahin, one of the protesting workers, said that security forces tried to break up the protest by force, arrested three protesters and charged.
Al-Masbahin told Jordan Labor Watch that they will now go to court to demand the release of their colleagues, stressing that the strike was peaceful and lawful and that health and safety protocols were followed.
He pointed out that 224 workers at the company are temporary workers, despite the fact that they have been working in the company for more than 8 years, hold bachelor’s degrees, and do the same work as the employees of the company.
The protesters demanded better salaries and that they be granted their full labor rights, in addition to the allowances they deserve as some are paid and others are not, such as the productivity allowance, hazard allowance and shifts allowance.
On August 11, workers protested in front of the company's building for this very reason.