AMMAN — Minister of
Industry, Trade, and Supply, Yousef Shamali, announced on Saturday that the
Tripartite Committee for Labor Affairs will meet on Thursday to discuss the
possibility of raising the
minimum wage or coming up with a decision to benefit
the public.
اضافة اعلان
Earlier on Saturday, Mazen Maaitah,
president of the General Federation of Jordan Trade Unions, stated that his
organization was not informed by the Ministry of Labor of the tripartite committee’s
meeting date to discuss the minimum wage, according Jo24.
Maaitah added that the committee
considers all aspects related to raising the
minimum wage in the Kingdom,
noting that there is a disagreement about how to calculate inflation from the
past two years.
‘Not affected’Some economic sectors have
reservations about raising the minimum wage, as they believe that recovery from
the coronavirus has not yet occurred, said Maaitah.
However, these sectors will not be
affected, he said.
Last week, the SSC announced that it
will be increasing the
minimum wage in the Kingdom from JD260 to JD271. Shortly
after, Shamali said that he did not expect the minimum wage to increase this
year or next year, saying it poses a "burden" in the private and
public sectors.
“Only 20 percent of the labor force receives the minimum wage.”
This resulted in the SSC retracting
the decision.
‘Barely enough’“Only 20 percent of the labor force
receives the minimum wage,” he emphasized.
The current salary set by the
Ministry of Labor is barely enough for individual workers, let alone their
entire families, he added. He emphasized that the decision to be taken must be
positive and in the interest of the worker.
He emphasized that the decision must be
positive and in the interest of the worker, as the current salary set by the
Ministry of Labor is not enough for individual workers or their families.
Many across the Kingdom economic
recovery from the coronavirus pandemic remains uncertain, with some sectors
opposing an increase in the minimum wage.
In January 2020, the Tripartite
Committee for Labor Affairs decided to raise the
minimum wage from JD220 to
JD260 per month. The plan was to implement the increase at the beginning of
2021 and to automatically raise it in accordance with inflation rates starting
in 2022.
However, the committee postponed the
implementation to 2023, to be reviewed for the following three years.
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