The Jordanian Labor Watch called for the need to raise wage levels, whether in the private or public sector, in line with the standard of living in Jordan.
In a statement issued by the Watch today, Sunday, it said that inflation rates (prices of goods and services) are in successive rises, as it finally recorded an increase in 2023 by 2.08 percent compared to 2022, according to the Department of Statistics, while wage levels remain the same, whether for the minimum wage in the private sector (260 dinars) or even wages in the public sector, especially the monthly cost of living allowance of 135 dinars, which has not been increased for about 10 years, which has placed great burdens on consumers.
The Jordanian Labor Watch warned in its statement that there are possibilities of further increases in inflation rates during the coming period due to the ongoing Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip and the unrest in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab.
In light of Prime Minister Bishr al-Khasawneh's directives to the relevant ministers to take the necessary measures to confront the expected price increases, the Jordanian Labor Watch believes that wages should be reviewed and raised, enabling citizens to absorb the effects of these increases and ease their burdens.
Article 52, paragraph (b) of the Labor Law stipulates that cost-of-living indices issued by the competent official authorities should be taken into account when setting the minimum wage by the Tripartite Committee for Labor Affairs, but this has not been implemented.
In January last year, the government reversed the decision of the tripartite committee to automatically raise the minimum wage according to the inflation rates announced by the Department of Statistics and decided not to raise it until 2025.
The Jordanian Labor Watch stressed that low wage levels are one of the most prominent challenges faced by workers in the Jordanian labor market, as there are large sectors of workers who receive monthly wages that are less than the minimum wage stipulated in the labor law, in addition to the low wages earned by the majority of workers in the unorganized economy.
He pointed out that the failure to raise wage levels constitutes the perpetuation of a series of policies that are biased against the interests of the working poor and an expression of anti-social economic choices that serve the interests of a limited segment of society.
It also contradicts the pillars of the economic modernization vision announced by the government in 2022, especially the pillar of improving the quality of life, which includes providing the necessary elements for a decent life, according to the Jordanian Labor Watch, which stressed that increasing wage levels is one of the most important elements that achieve a decent standard of living for citizens.
The Jordanian Labor Watch warned that if wages remain unchanged, it would widen the base of poverty, deepen social and economic inequality, weaken citizens' enjoyment of economic and social human rights, and threaten national stability in its various dimensions.