It was thought that with the Jordan-US Free Trade Agreement, the presence of manufacturing plants with free access to US markets would provide jobs for thousands of households. The textile industry has taken off in Jordan since 2001, and exported $1.2 billion to the US in 2005, supplying garments for Wal-Mart, Target, and other popular retailers.
But in May 2006, a shocking report by the National Labor Committe and an article in the New York Times reveiled that these textile plants are actually relying on migrant labor from southeast Asia, India, and Bangladesh. There are an estimated 300,000 foreign guest workers in Jordan, mostly from Bangladesh, China, India and Sri Lanka. Over 30,000 of these foreign workers are employed in Jordan's textile factories in the Qualified Industrial Zones, producing garments for US consumption. To make matters worse, these workers are forced to work in sweatshop conditions; receiving little pay and forced to live in unsanitary conditions. Workers are often forced to purchase for their employment contract, about the equivalent of $2,000 USD. Once they arrive in Jordan, they have their passports confiscated and are forced to work 16 hour work days for mere pennies per hour.
US lawmakers had hoped that the US-Jordan FTA’s requirements of fair labor practice would improve conditions of Jordanian labor and ensure a non-sweatshop product. Yet textile factory owners have found a way to get around fair labor practices thanks to US neglect. American lawmakers overlooked the fact that Jordanian labor laws are only applicable to its own citizens and do not provide protections for foreign workers. Standards such as receiving at least a one-day off per week (Friday), a minimum wage of 95 Dinars ($134.28) a week, and safe working conditions do not apply for foreign workers.
In an effort quell the bad publicity from the New York Times article, American retailers pressured the Jordanian government for rapid reforms. Jordan’s Ministry of Labor forced the textile factories to adhere to the same labor standards as are prescribed for Jordanian workers. Conditions are now improving for foreign workers in Jordan’s garment factories, many of whom are now receiving minimum wage and their passports.
But one large problem remains for Jordanians: the Qualified Industrial Zones are only benefiting factory owners and the political elite. Which begs one to question: how can the US and Jordan alter the treaty to benefit Jordan’s impoverished? And can the beneficiaries of outsourcing be outsourced themselves?
