Jordan Times
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Labour sector improvements highlighted at fashion trade show
Labour Ministry representatives on Friday wrapped up several days of meetings and outreach with buyers and media designed to inform audiences about the steps the government has taken over the past 18 months to improve labour compliance and administration.The meetings were held during MAGIC, a biannual fashion trade show that attracts over 100,000 attendees, according to a statement released by the Jordanian embassy in Washington, DC.The allegations of labour violations were first levelled against Jordan’s apparel manufacturing industry in 2006 by the National Labour Committee (NLC).“Although not every allegation by the NLC proved accurate, the fact that Jordan has accepted responsibility for those that were accurate, and taken steps to remedy them, is paying great dividends with our buyers and I think increasing our credibility with the media,” said labour minister adviser, Lejo Sibbel, who met with many key buyers and held a press conference during the Las Vegas event.Some of those steps included a 16 per cent increase in the minimum wage for garment sector workers, establishing a multilingual hotline to register complaints, improving the ministry’s ability to support factories in their own compliance efforts, and the launch earlier this month of the ILO Better Work Jordan Project - a broad initiative to improve compliance through public reporting and factory assessments.