Global Rights Index 2014 - Jordan

Country Rating: 4

• Systematic violation of rights

• Workers in countries with the rating of 4 have reported systematic violations. The government and/or companies are engaged in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers, putting fundamental rights under continuous threat.

Replacement workers: In July 2013, in a joint press conference with the Ministers of Interior and Finance it was announced that the government was taking measures to restore working conditions at the Jordan Customs Department where some workers had instigated a strike demanding pay raises and transport allowances. The Minister of Finance considered the strike as "not justified" and called on the workers to return to work and to put an immediate end to the strike. The Government has replaced the striking workers with police officers and is considering hiring retired workers as replacement.

Security forces prevent strike: Security forces prevented workers at the Justice Palace from entering the building where they had been demonstrating for 19 consecutive days calling for better work conditions and increased wages and bonuses. Specifically, workers asked for an inclusion in the bonus system, the restructuring of incentives regulations, the amendment of wages for third category employees and the amendment of the Social Security Fund regulations. The strike had caused delays in court proceedings in Amman but also in other cities where workers joined the strike, in particular in Irbid and Tafileh.