Jordan has been included in the initial list of countries that do not comply with International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions and do not respect some of its standards related to decent work.
According to the list issued by the ILO's Committee on the Application of Standards, which was reviewed by the Jordanian Labor Watch, the convention to which Jordan is not committed is Convention No. 98 on the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining.
The Jordanian Labor Watch said that Jordan ratified this convention and published it in the Official Gazette in 1963, 61 years ago, but successive governments neglected to implement it, which led to a decline in working conditions in many economic sectors.
The Jordanian Labor Watch pointed out that Jordanian legislation regulating trade union work is not consistent with Convention 98, which stipulates that workers should be adequately protected from any discriminatory acts in their employment aimed at infringing on their freedom of association and prohibits making a worker's employment conditional on not joining a trade union or renouncing his trade union membership.
The convention also prohibits "dismissing or otherwise disadvantaging a worker because of his trade union membership or participation in trade union activities." In addition, it provides "adequate protection for workers' and employers' organizations against any acts that constitute interference in each other's affairs, directly or through their agents or members," whether such interference is aimed at their composition, functioning, or management.
The Jordanian Labor Watch pointed out that this convention guarantees, in part, the right to trade union organization, by emphasizing the prohibition of subjecting workers to any form of punishment of any kind because of their trade union affiliations and activities, which is the opposite in many establishments, according to the Jordanian Labor Watch, which explained that some employers take punitive measures against workers in trade union committees who defend the rights of their colleagues, in addition to the legal restrictions on freedom of trade union organization and collective bargaining in the Labor Law, in addition to the legal restrictions on freedom of trade union organization and collective bargaining.
Paragraph (a) of Article (98) of the law stipulates that the number of workers must be at least 50 workers in the same industry or economic activity or industries and economic activities that are similar or related to each other in one production, thus preventing thousands of workers who work in small and microeconomic establishments from establishing their own trade unions.
Paragraph (d) of the same article gives the Minister of Labor the authority to establish a classification of industries and economic activities in which trade unions may be formed. In addition, the Labor Law and the decisions issued under it have not allowed the establishment of any new trade unions since the mid-1970s, limiting them to only 17 trade unions, which shows the contradiction between these restrictions and Article 97, which allows workers in any profession to establish and join their own trade unions.
The Jordanian Labor Watch noted that Article 100 allows the General Federation of Trade Unions to set unified internal regulations for unions, which contradicts international labor standards, as setting internal regulations is the sole prerogative of unions' general bodies.
Paragraph (b) of Article 103 requires the federation and trade unions to approve any amendments to their bylaws by the registrar of trade unions and employers' unions at the ministry, according to the Jordanian Labor Watch, which stressed that this contradicts international labor standards and undermines the independence of trade unions.
Article 116 grants the Minister of Labor the power to dissolve the union's administrative body and appoint a temporary management body, which violates the most basic rules of freedom of association and international labor standards, as dissolving union administrative bodies should be the prerogative of the judicial authority, not the Minister of Labor.
As for the right to collective bargaining, the Jordanian Labor Watch noted that paragraph (b) of Article 44 stipulates that in order to conduct collective bargaining with employers in organizations, the number of workers must be 25 or more, which deprives the vast majority of workers in Jordan of their right to conduct collective bargaining with employers.
The Jordanian Labor Watch called for the removal of all restrictions on freedom of association and collective bargaining in the Labor Law and reform amendments in this area in line with ILO standards in Convention 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining and Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, which Jordan has not yet ratified.