Democratic Palestine : 6 (ص 20)

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Democratic Palestine : 6 (ص 20)

المحتوى

Jordan
The Labor Force Dilemma
The recent international conference on population held in New Mexico hosted many celebrities,
among them Queen Nour of Jordan.
The Queen expressed her great sorrow and deep concern, because of the poor living conditions
that prevail in the «third world». She called on all conferees to provide their people with better living con-
ditions. The Queen went on to ask with great pain: «Is it the fate of the workers to keep on moving forever,
searching for employment and better living conditions? How long are they going to keep running after
unfixed wages ?» ;
The Queen obviously «forgot» to mention that her concerns were exactly what the Jordanian work-
ers are facing. In fact, in the Arab world Jordan rates second after Egypt in terms of workers’ emigration.
The following study examines «the fate» of the Jordanian workers, highlighting that the severe situ-
ation is caused by the deliberate policy of the Jordanian regime which Queen Nour represents!
The most recent official statistics
indicate that the population of Jordan is
2,964,662.' According to the Unified
Arab Economic Report of 1983, Jor-
dan’s total labor force numbered
1,476,000 in 1982. Among them the
male and female workers, numbered
430,000 or 30% of the total labor force.?
On the other hand, there were 74,588
public employees.?
Such a labor force demands that
the government provides work oppor-
tunities, which in turn would enable the
building of a national economy. The pro-
ductivity of such a work force could deci-
sively affect the socio-economic condi-
tions in Jordan and play a major role in
confronting the Zionist enemy and its
expansionist plans which extend
beyond the Jordan River (which sepa-
rates the occupied West Bank of Pales-
tine from Jordan). However we see that
the Jordanian regime gears its economy
contrary to this nationalist line. The gov-
ernment does not work to strengthen the
role of the productive sectors in the
gross national product (total value of
commodities produced and services
provided in the country). Instead it con-
tinuously and noticeably retards the pro-
ductive sector. Instead of depending on
the domestic work force and benefiting
from the degree of stability attained in
the seventies, the regime has used all
possible methods and pressure to force
workers to emigrate. The regime has
collaborated with the employers and
claimed that it was impossible to imple-
ment social security and health plans, or
to improve wages and working condi-
tions. This has resulted in a clear trend:
emigration of the work force, especially
to the Gulf states.
The underlying cause of this policy
is indeed political. The Jordanian regime
obviously encourages emigration in
order to lessen internal social and politi-
cal pressures.
This policy remains in force despite
Jordan’s objective need for this labor
force. There have been great oppor-
tunities after the economic upswing that

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Democratic Palestine : 6

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