Aqaba Container Terminal employees end strike after deal reached with management

AMMAN – Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) company employees agreed to end their strike on Sunday after the Lower House brokered an agreement between the General Union of Port Workers and the management, according to a union member.

Mohammad Matilah, the union’s spokesperson, told The Jordan Times that both sides agreed during a meeting, chaired by Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh, to end the strike that started last Monday, cancel the penalties imposed on employees and refer the dispute between the two parties to the Labour Court. 

“The employees will start work tomorrow morning,” Matilah told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

Before the agreement was reached, ACT had threatened to fire some of its striking employees if they do not return to work.

The ACT employees want the management to increase their salaries, pay them 15 salaries a year and include their parents in their medical insurance, among 23 other demands, according to the company, which has more than 900 employees.

At a press conference last week, Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) Chief Commissioner and ACT Chairman Kamel Mahadin said employees who are participating in the “illegal” strike and do not return to their jobs within 48 hours will be released in accordance with the Labour Law, according to a statement posted on ACT’s website. 

The company also said that the management signed an agreement with the president of the General Federation of Trade Unions, Mazen Maaytah, and registered it officially at the Labour Ministry last Thursday. 

Under the agreement, eligible employees will receive a number of benefits under the new agreement, including a JD25 increase in the housing allowance, making it JD200; a JD50 allowance for crane operators; an additional four days of annual leave, making it 25 days for staff on the new shift system; an increase in the end-of-service remuneration for early retirees from the basic salary of 28 months to that of 36 months; and life insurance for all employees.

The new benefits will cost the company JD1.8 million annually, ACT said.

At the press conference held at ACT premises last week, Mahadin said Aqaba Port Corporation staff and some guest workers have been temporarily hired to work at the terminal, describing the strike, which began last Monday, as illegal.

The company is losing JD300,000 to JD400,000 a day as a result of the strike, he said, highlighting other adverse consequences on the economy as a whole.