Amman, June 18 (Petra) -- The General Trade Union of Workers in Public Services, Free Professions, Communications and Information Technology, and the Jordan Restaurants Association signed a collective labor agreement on Thursday covering the sector as a whole, benefiting around 23,000 workers across 1,450 tourist restaurants. The agreement will run for three years, with an estimated total value of JD3.5 million.

According to a union statement, the agreement was signed by Union President Khaled Abu Marjoub and Association Chairman Issam Fakhr al-Din, in the presence of Director of the Ministry of Labor’s Labor Relations Department Adnan Al-Dahamsheh.

Under the agreement, the association commits to prioritizing the employment of Jordanian workers in tourist restaurants and working toward gradually replacing foreign labor by encouraging and training local workers to enter the sector.

It also stipulates that restaurants collecting a service charge of 5 percent (or any future approved rate) must distribute the full amount equally among all employees without withholding any portion, in line with current practice and each restaurant’s operational conditions.

The agreement further requires compliance with any Cabinet decision regarding minimum wages for Jordanian workers (290 dinars), while ensuring that service charges are not considered part of basic salaries. It also mandates adherence to labor and social security laws, including provisions related to insurance coverage, working hours, leave entitlements, overtime pay, and public and religious holidays.

Additionally, tourist restaurants are required to issue fair employment contracts in accordance with applicable laws, provide annual salary increases where possible based on inflation rates, and organize awareness workshops for both employers and employees on labor rights and obligations.

The union, for its part, committed not to submit any new labor demands to the association for a period of three years from the date of signing.

The agreement defines the union as representing all workers in the tourist restaurant sector, while the association represents all licensed and classified tourist restaurants under the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

//Petra// WH