Employmentweb_low

eMployMent relations and health inequalities: pathways and MechanisMs
selected case studies
Case study 57. Human trafficking and involuntary servitude under the U.S.-Jordan free trade agreement. - charles
Kernaghan and barbara briggs
the u.s.-Jordan Free trade agreement went into effect in december 2001. over the next five years, apparel exports from
Jordan to the united states soared by 2,300 per cent, growing from $521.1 million in 2000 to $1.2 billion in 2006. this was touted
as a model agreement since, for the first time, workers’ rights standards and environmental protections were included in the
core of the agreement. yet something went deeply wrong, and this agreement quickly descended into human trafficking and
involuntary servitude. as of 2007, at least 36,149 guest workers are employed in Jordan’s 114 garment factories, at least 90 per
cent of which are foreign-owned, mostly by asian investors. the guest workers come from bangladesh, china, sri lanka and
india. bangladeshi guest workers had to pay $1,000 to $3,000 each to unscrupulous manpower agencies in bangladesh to
purchase two- to three-year contracts to work in Jordan. this is an enormous amount of money in bangladesh, and as poor
workers, they had to borrow the money on the informal market at exorbitant interest rates of 5 to 10 per cent per month. From
the minute they took the loans, these workers were in a trap, a race against time to pay off their growing debts. the workers
were promised that they would be able to earn $134.28 a month for regular hours and up to $250 a month with overtime. they
were also promised that all housing, food and medical care would be free and that they would live well, “like they do in the west”.
they would get at least one day off a week, sick days, vacation time and national holidays. but there was a catch: the contract
tied the guest workers to just one factory, prohibiting them from working elsewhere.
one hundred fifteen workers from bangladesh purchased contracts to work at the al shahaed garment factory in irbid,
Jordan. upon their arrival at the airport, management immediately confiscated their passports. the workers were not provided
with residency permits, thus they could not go out on the street without fear of being detained by the police for lack of the proper
papers. once in the al shahaed factory, the workers found themselves forced to work shifts of 15, 38, 48 and even 72 hours
straight, often going two or three days without sleep. they worked 7 days a week. workers who fell asleep at their sewing
machines would be slapped and punched. instead of being paid the $250 a month that the ad promised, the workers earned 2
cents an hour, or $2.31 for a 98-hour workweek. workers who asked for their legal wages could be imprisoned up to three days
without food. workers who criticised the food the company provided were beaten with sticks and belts. twenty-eight workers
had to share one small 3.65-by-3.65-metre dorm room, which had access to running water only every third day. these workers
sewed clothing for wal-Mart. when, in desperation, the workers demanded their legal wages, they were forcibly deported and
returned to bangladesh without their back wages. Many of these workers are now hiding in dhaka city and peddling bicycle
rickshaws to survive. they cannot return to their home villages because they have no possible way to pay off the mounting debt
they incurred to go to Jordan in the first place. these and many other cases were denounced in the report the national labour
committee released in May 2006. by July 2006, shariff al Zuibi, Jordan’s trade Minister, declared, “our inspection regime may
have failed us and may have failed us miserably.” Jordan’s labour department had just 88 labour inspectors to oversee 98,000
business operations, and the primary role of the labour department inspectors was to issue work permits to foreign guest
workers. by law, Jordan’s unions were not permitted to organise foreign workers. today (2007), the Jordanian government has
closed at least ten of the worst garment factories, over 1,000 workers have been relocated to better factories, and conditions and
treatment have improved in many factories across Jordan. although the government has seriously responded to reports of
continued violations, much remains to be done. the guest workers are still denied the freedom of association and the right to
organise. Moreover, we do not know of any case where the foreign guest workers were paid the outstanding back wages legally
due to them. nor do we know of a single prosecution of factory owners for human trafficking and holding tens of thousands of
workers under conditions of involuntary servitude.
Sources
the national labour committee. (2006, september 27). the state of Jordan’s garment factories.
the national labour committee. (2007, February 14). statement of charles Kernagahan. directore of the national labour
committee before the subcommittee on interstate commerce, trade and tourism committee on commerce, science
and transportation.
Case study 58. Economic structures enabling slavery in the United States. - the national economic and social rights initiative
the increasing concentration of wealth in the united states continues to have deleterious effects on human wellbeing.
in the agricultural sector this translates into increased purchasing power in the hands of fewer and larger food
purchasers. currently, the agricultural industry is firmly in the control of large, consolidated buyers and retailers. buyers
use their vast market power to obtain volume discounts, exerting a strong downward pressure on their suppliers’ prices.
this market power has vastly increased in recent years. in a March 2004 report on the conditions of migrant farmworkers
in the united states, oxfam america identified a significant shift in an important economic indicator known as the
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