Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Jordan (Ratification: 1968)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 1 September 2021 concerning matters examined in its previous comments and the continuing anti-union measures against the Jordanian Teachers Association (JTA). The Committee recalls that the ITUC provided observations in this regard in 2020. The Committee also notes the Government’s response.

The Committee notes that the ITUC reports the following anti-union measures against the JTA: (i) the arrest and detention of JTA members (July-August 2020); (ii) the filing of criminal charges against the organization and its president (July 2020); (iii) the closure by the Government of the JTA offices for two years (July 2020), which effectively deprives teachers and education personnel of any representation; (iv) the prohibition by the authorities of the press from covering JTA press conferences (October 2020); (v) the issuance by the Amman court of first instance of a decision authorizing the dissolution of the JTA executive board and imposing one-year prison sentences on the 13 board members for various offences (December 2020); the union leaders were released on bail and the JTA appealed the decision; and (vi) the arrest by security services of 230 teachers who were peacefully demonstrating during the meeting between the JTA deputy director and members of the Parliamentary Education Commission (January 2021).

The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the JTA is a trade union established under the Jordanian Teachers’ Union Act No. 14 of 2011, which deviates from the definition of trade unions contained in section 2 of the Labour Code, and is not therefore subject to the provisions on the functioning of trade unions established in section 98 of the Labour Code. The Government therefore considers that the JTA is not covered by the scope of application of the Convention. The Government further indicates that the suspension of the JTA’s activities and the closure of its offices follow a court decision regarding violations of Act No. 11 of 1993 on economic offences. It adds that an interim committee to manage the union’s administrative and financial affairs during the suspension of its executive board was established to safeguard teachers’ rights, pending a final court decision. The Committee recalls that the rights conferred by the Convention on teaching staff, in particular the right to collective bargaining, require the existence of independent trade union organizations which can freely carry out their activities in defence of the interests of their members without interference by the public authorities. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures without delay to guarantee the right to organize and to bargain collectively in the education sector and to ensure full respect of the independence of workers’ organizations in the sector. The Committee, trusting that the above principles will be fully taken into account by the competent courts, requests the Government to provide information on the outcome of the current court proceedings involving the JTA and on any collective agreement or accord in the education sector, including with the JTA.

The Committee also recalls that it previously noted the observations of the Jordanian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (JFITU), received in August 2017, which referred to general legislative matters and specific cases of anti-union harassment and interference. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in response to the observations of the ITUC and JFITU.

The Committee also notes that the Committee on Freedom of Association referred to the Committee the follow-up of certain legislative amendments which it recommended the Government to make in Case No. 3337 (see Report No. 393, March 2021, paragraph 571), and which are discussed below.

Articles 1 to 6 of the Convention. Scope of application of the Convention. Foreign workers. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the observations of the JFITU, which were also largely echoed by the ITUC, that although the law was amended in 2010 to allow foreign workers to join unions, it does not permit them to establish unions or to hold union office; and that, in sectors where migrants form the majority of the workforce, the establishment of trade unions and the exercise of the right to collective bargaining is extremely unlikely. The Committee previously asked the Government to indicate how, in practice, foreign workers can enjoy the protection of the Convention, including the right to engage in collective bargaining through organizations of their own choosing. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (i) foreign workers have the right to join trade unions and enjoy the benefits of collective labour agreements; (ii) while foreign workers cannot establish or lead their own trade unions, there are no obstacles to their participation in collective bargaining; (iii) the internal regulations of the employers’ organization and the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions (GFJTU) may regulate voting matters in executive boards, membership requirements and procedures, the requirements to be met by candidates for election to their executive bodies and election procedure; (iv) one of the country’s largest unions with a large proportion of foreign workers is the General Union of Textile Workers, which has concluded a sectoral collective agreement for the benefit of 75,000 workers; and (v) the General Trade Union of Workers in Public Services and Liberal Professions has concluded collective agreements in the catering and hotel sectors benefiting 104,000 workers, many of them foreign. While noting this information, the Committee observes that the legal incapacity of foreign workers to establish or hold office in trade unions may constitute an obstacle to the autonomous exercise of the rights recognized by the Convention, in particular the right to collective bargaining. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures, including legislative measures, to facilitate the full exercise by foreign workers of the rights recognized by the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on the trade unions representing foreign workers and the collective agreements applicable to them.

Domestic and agricultural workers. In its previous observation, the Committee noted with regret that, despite the removal of the explicit exclusion of domestic and agricultural workers from the coverage of the Labour Code, the law and regulations still do not clearly guarantee these workers the rights set out in the Convention, (as section 3(b) of the Labour Code provides that the rules governing the employment conditions of these workers shall be determined by a regulation to be adopted at a later stage) and that this situation is likely to reinforce existing obstacles to the exercise of the right to organize and bargain collectively of foreign workers in those sectors. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (i) the law establishes a special legal regime for domestic workers who can join the General Trade Union of Workers in Public Services and Liberal Professions and benefit from the collective agreements concluded in their sector; and (ii) with regard to agricultural workers, work is under way to prepare specific regulations which should enable them to establish or join a representative trade union. Recalling that all workers other than members of the armed forces and the police and public servants engaged in the administration of the State are covered by the provisions of the Convention, the Committee trusts that the Government will adopt without delay the specific regulations for agricultural workers so that they can benefit from the right to organize and bargain collectively set out in the Convention and requests the Government to provide a copy of these regulations. The Committee also requests the Government to provide a copy of the text regulating the rights of domestic workers to which it refers, indicating whether it applies to domestic workers as well as to cooks, gardeners and other similar categories of workers. Lastly, the Committee requests the Government to specify how, under the applicable regulations, the various categories of workers referred to above effectively exercise the rights enshrined in the Convention, by providing, for each category, information on the number of collective agreements concluded and the number of workers covered.

Workers aged between 16 and 18 years. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to amend section 98(f) of the Labour Code to lift the prohibition on minors from joining trade unions, even though they have access to employment from the age of 16, so that they can benefit from the rights set out in the Convention. The Committee notes that in its reply the Government merely reiterates that the legal age for admission to employment is 18 years of age and that minors between 16 and 18 years of age work under special conditions determined by law. However, it specifies that these workers enjoy the same benefits as other workers under collective agreements. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 98(f) so as to ensure that minors who have reached the legal age for admission to employment, whether as workers or trainees, are fully protected in the exercise of their rights under the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged in this respect.

Workers not included in the 17 sectors recognized by the Government. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the indication that, pursuant to an Order of the Ministry of Labour of 1999, the number of occupations and industries in which workers have the right to establish trade unions is set at 17. In this regard, the Committee noted the ITUC and JFITU’s observations indicating that workers who are not in the Government-designated sectors are not able to engage in collective bargaining through organizations of their own choosing. The Committee notes the list provided by the Government of the 17 sectors in which it recognizes the right of workers to organize for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that section 98 of the Labour Code has been amended to remove the responsibility for classifying occupations and industries from the Tripartite Labour Committee and assign it to the Minister of Labour, thereby allowing greater flexibility in the reclassification of occupations and industries, and paving the way for the creation of new trade unions. While the Government provides overall figures for the 56 collective agreements concluded in 2019, covering 281,526 workers, the Committee notes that the Government does not specify the occupations included in each of the 17 sectors, the relevant legislation, regulations, or statistical information on the number of workers in each of these sectors, as requested in its previous observation. In view of the above, the Committee is once again bound to express its concern that the current system has the effect of removing entire categories of workers from the rights guaranteed by the Convention. The Committee recalls that the scope of application of the Convention covers all workers and employers, and their respective organizations, in both the private and the public sectors, irrespective of whether or not they are essential services. The only exceptions authorized concern the armed forces and the police, as well as public servants engaged in the administration of the State (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 168.). The Committee therefore urges the Government to take all the necessary measures to ensure that no category or group of workers, with the exception of the armed forces, the police and public servants engaged in the administration of the State, can be excluded from the scope of application of the Convention for the exercise of their right to organize and bargain collectively. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the Ministry of Labour’s decisions concerning the reclassification of occupations and industries within the meaning of the requirements of the Convention as recalled above. In the meantime, the Committee again requests the Government to provide statistics showing the number of workers in each of the recognized sectors and the total number of workers in the country.

Article 2. Adequate protection against acts of interference. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to amend the legislation with a view to strengthening the penalties in cases of interference, as it considered that the fines provided for in section 139 of the Labour Code could not have a sufficiently dissuasive effect. The Committee also noted the ITUC and JFITU’s allegations that the Government subsidized the remuneration of GFJTU personnel and some of its activities, and that it continued to influence their policies and activities, as well as those of their affiliates. The Committee notes the Government’s response that it refrains from any trade union interference and that the financial resources of the GFJTU and its affiliates come from membership fees, as well as subsidies and donations made in accordance with certified financial rules. With regard to penalties for interference by employers, the Government indicates that it submitted a draft amendment to the Labour Code in 2020, including an amendment to section 139 to increase the penalty from 500 to 1,000 Jordanian dinars (US$1,410). The draft amendment is now reportedly before the House of Representatives. Noting the draft provision to strengthen the penalties for interference indicated by the Government, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on any progress in the adoption of the legislative amendment and on the penalties for interference by employers provided for in the Labour Code as amended.

Articles 4 and 6. Right to collective bargaining. Trade union monopoly. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the observations of the JFITU, which were largely echoed by the ITUC, that it was impossible to establish more than one union in the Government-designated sectors and that the unions in question were required to be affiliated to the single officially recognized federation, the GFJTU, and the limitation of one union per sector serves to prevent independent unions from organizing workers in the recognized sectors and representing their interests in collective bargaining. The Committee also noted that section 98(d)(1) of the Labour Code effectively gives the Tripartite Labour Committee (defined in section 43 of the Labour Code) the authority to determine groups of occupations in which only one general trade union may be established, which appears to authorize the establishment of a de facto trade union monopoly at the sectoral level. In its response, the Government indicates that section 98 of the Labour Code has been amended to remove the responsibility for classifying occupations and industries from the Tripartite Labour Committee and assign it to the Minister of Labour, with the intention of providing greater flexibility for the reclassification of occupations and industries. The Committee firmly recalls its view that the imposition of a trade union monopoly is incompatible with the principle of free and voluntary negotiation established in Article 4 of the Convention. Consequently, and noting in this respect the specific recommendations made by the Committee on Freedom of Association (Case No. 3337, 393rd Report, March 2021, paragraph 559), the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that more than one trade union can be established in a sector and to permit the effective exercise of the free and voluntary negotiation required by the Convention, and to provide information on any progress in this respect.

Collective bargaining in the public sector. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the right to collective bargaining in the public sector, including the relevant constitutional amendments and the draft law on trade unions for public sector employees, and expressed the firm hope that the national legislation would recognize explicitly the right to collective bargaining of workers in the public sector who are not engaged in the administration of the State. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Public Service Regulations (No. 9 of 2020) have taken into account in a number of provisions the participation and representation of professional unions in the composition and functions of the Public Service Council (section 6 of the Regulations), as well as the composition of the committees established for the purpose of amending the Public Service Regulations. This regulatory amendment is reportedly intended to ensure their effective participation in the adoption of public policies, plans and programmes for human resources management in the public sector, and in the development of public service legislation and any subsequent amendments. The Government also indicates that the Civil Service Diwan is in regular contact with the professional unions in order to inform them of and involve them in changes to the public service legislation. Finally, the Government indicates that it will establish ministerial committees to examine the professional unions’ demands and proposals. Taking due note of the information provided by the Government and recalling that public servants who are not engaged in the administration of the State must be able to collectively bargain their working and employment conditions beyond mere consultation mechanisms, the Committee trusts that the various measures described will contribute positively to the adoption of legislation or regulations explicitly recognizing the right to collective bargaining in the public sector, and that the Government will soon indicate tangible progress in this regard.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2022.]