Indian workers to return home following dispute

SAHAB - More than 200 Indian workers will be allowed to return home after reaching an agreement with their employer in Al Tajamouat Industrial City in Sahab, ending a two-month work stoppage.

The labour ministry brokered the agreement on Wednesday after 241 labourers refused to resume working for their employer, the Maintrend International Garment factory, with over two years remaining on their three-year contracts, according to ministry official Trad Fayez.

The dispute started in August, when four Indian workers assaulted the assistant manager of the factory during an argument over productivity, Fayez said.

“The assistant manager was beaten by the workers and she filed a complaint at the police station. When the police tried to bring the workers in for interrogation, their colleagues refused to work until the charges were dropped,” he told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

Between August 27 and October 20, the workers disrupted the factory and even intimidated others, according to Alaa Saifi, the factory’s vice manager, who claimed that the disruptions cost Maintrend $1 million and forced the company to send shipments by air to make up for the time loss.

“They used to unplug the sewing machines while others were working and at times they would just stand at the factory’s main gate and threaten people coming to work,” Saifi charged, adding that factory management refrained from contacting security in order to avoid escalating tensions.

Sumayya, a 28-year-old Jordanian woman who has been working at Maintrend for over 10 years, said the Indians warned other employees against coming to work.

Imran Abdulrahman, a 28-year-old Bangladeshi, said he was also threatened by the Indian workers.

The Indian workers told The Jordan Times that they “wanted respect” and decent living conditions, claiming that their employer did not provide their hostel with potable water and that they received one meal a day.

“They shouted at us and forced us to work long hours,” said 25-year-old Muhammad Asfang, an Indian worker, adding that the workers were under pressure to meet the company’s 100-piece-a-day target.

These claims were rejected by the management, which claimed that the workers insisted on working long hours to receive overtime pay. The company also said that workers were given distilled water for drinking.

Under the deal reached on Wednesday, a copy of which was provided to The Jordan Times, the management agreed to give each worker three-and-a-half months of pay, a one-way ticket to India and compensation for unused leave. The factory also agreed to drop charges against the four Indians.

Despite the dispute, the Indian workers said they were satisfied with the deal.

“We are very happy with the agreement. All we want to do is return home,” Asfang said.

Until financial and procedural measures are complete, the factory will continue to cover the 241 workers’ hostel and food expenses, the management said.

The factory employs 506 workers, 39 of them Jordanians and the rest Indians, Bangladeshis and Vietnamese, according to official records, copies of which were made available to The Jordan Times.

Al Tajamouat Industrial City houses 27 garment factories, which employ over 5,823 workers, including 1,089 Jordanians, according to ministry records.