Jordan Labor Watch - Morad Kotkot
Jordan Steel terminated the services of 90 workers under the pretext of "inciting a strike" and vowed to dismiss more workers if the strike they began to carry out last Thursday continued.
The company, which is located in Zarqa governorate, based its dismissal decisions on the Labor Law, which has drawn condemnation from workers and dismay at how the legal articles have been misinterpreted contrary to their intended meaning.
Workers who were terminated told Jordan Labor Watch that the company's management terminated six workers on Monday, followed by 84 others on Tuesday.
They mentioned that for the past six months, the company’s management has been late in paying their salaries until the middle of the month and sometimes even later, citing the difficult financial conditions of the company.
They confirmed that they had not yet received their salary for August. Additionally, the health insurance for employees has been suspended several times, most recently on August 3.
The General Union for Workers in Mines and Metal Industries addressed the management of the company on the need to pay salaries and to not to violate the law.
The union also demanded that "the health insurance of employees of the company should not be compromised under any circumstances as it is their acquired right, otherwise workers and the union will protest which is guaranteed to them by law, including strikes and sit-ins."
The company’s CEO, Moataz al-Hassan, stressed that the company "is going through bad financial conditions, which prevented the payment of salaries of workers on legal dates.”
He explained that the decision to terminate workers was due to "incitement to strike that lasted more than four days, which led to the disruption of work in the company and led to damages and serious losses.”
Hassan indicated that more workers will be terminated if the strike continues, explaining that the nature of the work within the company requires work to not stop in any way.
"The suspension of work violates the Labor Law and makes it an illegal act of incitement contrary to the provisions of Article 135 and the allowance for Article 136, sub article A, of the Labor Law," read the workers' termination letter, copies of which were obtained by the Jordan Labor Watch.
The termination letter also stated that "the company has the right to take all necessary measures and to bring the case against the employees and claim them for all damages and losses suffered or may be inflicted on the company, according to the provisions of Article 28, sub articles B, C, D of the Labor Law, and to resolve the days of not working, as provided for by Article 136.
Referring to sub articles B, C, and D of Article 28 relating to dismissals of the worker without notice, sub article B states that "if the worker does not fulfil his obligations under the employment contract", sub article C states that "if the worker makes an error that results in a serious material loss to the employer-provided that the employer informs the relevant authority or authorities of the incident within five days of the time he or she is aware of the incident."
However, one of the employees who was terminated said that they have informed a manager at the company last Monday that they would resort to strike if the salary of August was paid no later than Thursday, and the manager promised them to pay their salaries before Thursday.
The worker, who asked not to be named, explained that the strike they carried out starting last Thursday "does not violate the rules of procedure of the company and does not violate the employment contracts, but rather is a protest against the manager’s failure to uphold his promise.”
Hamada Abu Najma, a lawyer specializing in labor affairs, said Defense Order No. 6 and its communications "prevented the dismissal of workers except based on Article 28 of the Labor Law."
In a statement to Jordan Labor Watch, Abu Najma said that there were no cases in Article 28 of the law that allows the employer to dismiss a worker if he carried out a strike or protest.