Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Dozens of unemployed day laborers laid off from the Ministry of Agriculture staged a sit in Tuesday afternoon to protest what they described as "government's lack of commitment to follow through its promises given to return the fired day laborers to their jobs."

The protest took place in front of the Royal Hashemite Court in Amman where over 30 laid off day laborers held signs calling for justice for their cause and describing the lay-off decision late last year as a measure of arbitrary termination on the part of the ministry.

This is the 41st demonstration held by the laid-off laborers, Muhammad Sneid, head of the Public Sector Day-Laborers' Committee said, adding in statements to 'Ammon News' during the protest that the laborers' 41st protest "comes as a result of the injustice and discrimination practiced by the government against us."

He expressed that the government's measures only indicate that it seeks to widen the poor stratum in the country, indicating distress at the behaviors of the government "which only harm the dignity of Jordanian citizens rather than preserve it."

Sneid said the day-laborers will resort to escalating measures if the government continues to ignore their cause, noting that the laborers are falling further into poverty as they try to make ends meet and feed their families after over 7 months of unemployment.

The government had laid off 256 day laborers from the Ministry of Agriculture late last year, only to resort to re-hiring nearly 130 of them as full time employees at the Agriculture Ministry and others at the Ministry of Environment and Education.
Sneid noted that 66 day-laborers are still awaiting fulfillment of the government's promise to reinstate them back to their jobs.

On another note, 18 unemployed laborers that were laid off from Miyahuna Water Co. also protested on Tuesday in front of the Prime Ministry headquarters calling on the government to reinstate them to their jobs.