工资上涨冲击约旦服装业

Wage hike may hit Jordanian garment sector
The Jordanian government has emphasized the need to increase the minimum wages paid to Jordanian workers from the current JD150. Towards that end, an ad hoc committee compromising the employers, workers and officials from the labour ministry has been constituted, which met last week to deliberate on the issue.
The Labour ministry has also exhorted employers to reduce dependence on recruitment of staff from overseas countries. The garment sector, which contributes around 20 percent of overall export earnings, employs about 27,000 foreign workers and 16,000 locals.
The ministry has also underscored its commitment to garment sector investors by offering to impart necessary skills to Jordanian workers through vocational training programs.
Speaking exclusively to fibre2fashion on the outcome of the meeting, Mr Mohammad Mustafa Khorma, President, Jordan Garments, Accessories and Textiles Exporters’ Association (JGATE) said, “We could not arrive at any agreement at the meeting as the labor union is trying to push for a minimum wage hike to JD300, i.e. a 100% hike.
“The private sector does not consider this as logical and has agreed to hike the wages to JD180. The unions are demanding the 100 percent increase, by putting forth the argument of high inflation. Now it is for the Prime Minister’s Office to decide quantum of hike in wages.”
Providing more details he said, “JGATE is trying to push as much as possible for employing more locals to add better value in the industry. Our message to the government is that the Jordan garment industry cannot afford any increase in minimum wages at all, as profit margins are already very low at 4-5%.
“Jordan faces competition from countries like China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, etc. Buyers are asking for cut throat prices, so in order to compete, we have to slash our profit margins. If wages are raised, there will be a direct 10% increase in production costs. So, we will be losing out on 6%, which will make the business precarious.”
附译文如下：

工资上涨冲击约旦服装业
约旦政府强调提高工人的最低工资（JD150），正因如此，一个由雇主、工人和劳动部门官员构成的特别委员会成立了，上周对此问题进行了探讨。
劳动部门同时忠告雇主们降低对外国员工的依赖度。服装业对整体出口额的贡献率为20%，雇佣了大约27000名外国工人，16000名本地工人。
劳动部还强调了自己的承诺，通过职业培训加强约旦工人必要的技能。
约旦纺织品和成衣及辅料出口商协会(JGATE)主席Mohammad Mustafa Khorma先生说：“我们在会议上没能达成任何协议，因为工会试图将工资升高至JD300，即提高100%。”
“私营部门认为这不合理，只同意将最低工资提升到JD180。工会要求将工资提高100%的理由是高的通货膨胀水平。现在将由总理办公室来决定上涨的工资数额。”
他还说：“JGATE正在试图尽可能推进，使雇主雇佣更多的当地人并增加产业附加值。我们向政府传递的信息是，约旦的服装业不能承受最低工资任何的增加，因为利润已经低到只有4-5%。”
“约旦面临着诸如中国、孟加拉、越南、斯里兰卡等国家的竞争，买家极力压价，为了竞争，我们已经削减了利润空间。如果工资上涨，生产成本会直接上涨10%。所以，我们将会损失6%，这将使产业处于危险中。”