Aqaba terminal employees suspend strike

AMMAN –– Employees of the Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) on Wednesday suspended their strike after an agreement was reached between the company and a committee representing the General Union of Port Workers.

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) Chief Commissioner and ACT Chairman Kamel Mahadin as saying that the employees decided to suspend the work stoppage, which started Sunday, as of Wednesday. 

The agreement between ACT and the employees came after intensive talks over the past two days. 

According to Petra, the agreement entails increasing the housing allowance for employees from JD175 a month to JD200 and offering medical insurance coverage for pensioners and their spouses for four years.

No action will be taken against those who participated in the strike, Petra said. 

ACT employees were on strike to demand that management increase their salaries, pay them 15 salaries a year and include their parents in their medical insurance, among other benefits.

Ihab Rawashdeh, head of ACT’s media and public relations department, said in previous remarks to The Jordan Times that the list of demands included 26 requests that — if met — would cost ACT over JD10 million a year.  

The strike, which came less than two weeks before Eid Al Fitr, was a concern for merchants as the Kingdom’s imports usually rise sharply during this period to meet the surging demand for food and clothes.