Jordan Labor Watch - Ahmed Al-Malkawi
Approximately three months after the Committee for Public Sector Modernization announced its recommendation to abolish the Ministry of Labor, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Youssef al-Shamali has received his second ministerial portfolio—the latest change introduced by Bisher Al-Khasawneh’s government’s.
Labor activists and observers perceive this move as the first step towards abolishing the Ministry of Labor, bringing some of its directorates under the umbrella of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply.
The government is yet to deliver a statement on the decision, after ignoring calls by more than 50 civil society organizations and trade unions to not follow the recommendation and preserve the ministry. Now, with the labor portfolio in the hands of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply, a new nail seems to have been driven into the coffin of the Ministry of Labor.
Speaking to Jordan Labor Watch, Imad Al-Malhi, the coordinator of the workers’ rights campaign “Voice of Workers”, stated that the decision to combine the ministries signals the government’s intention to implement the recommendation and dissolve the Ministry of Labor, despite the pivotal role it plays even in developed countries. Mr. Al-Malhi went elaborated that the government’s disregard for the demands of workers, trade unions, and civil society organizations to reject this recommendation encapsulates its bias in favor of employers.
Ahmad Awad, director of the Phenix Center for Economic and Informatics Studies, share’s Al-Malhi’s interpretation, cautioning that the decision to abolish the ministry signals a qualitative change in the orientations and choices of the Jordanian government—namely, its economic policies and choices—threatening economic consequences which could go down as “the most severe in [Jordan’s] history”, in terms of the state’s assumption of its social responsibilities.