[Economics] Due to the 45% hike in diesel prices... A general strike of the transport and trucking sector is sweeping across Jordan

[SnO]

AMMAN - The truck strike is expanding in the governorates of the Kingdom of Jordan for its fourth day in a row, amid announcing that working sectors on the internal and external public transport lines are joining the strike, in protest against the successive rises in the prices of oil derivatives and the low transportation fares.

 

 

With the increase in the frequency of the truck strike, containers loaded with goods and raw materials are piled up on the docks of the coastal Gulf of Aqaba ports (southern Jordan), and handling operations witnessed - according to specialists - a stagnation in transport. This threatens supply chains, especially grain and crude oil transported by tankers.

And last Sunday morning, the Truck Owners Syndicate started a strike, as trucks and refrigerators in Aqaba Governorate (southern Jordan on the Red Sea) stopped entering the ports and loading containers, followed by a stop for trucks in the land port in Ma’an Governorate, and the strike expanded to include many governorates in the Kingdom.

The governorates of Al-Mafraq and Al-Ramtha (Northern Jordan) witnessed an expansion of the strike, after the owners and drivers of trucks announced their strike, and stopped entering to transport goods to and from the Syrian side through the border crossing between Jordan and Syria (Jaber-Naseeb), and the protesters gathered in yards adjacent to the border crossing in the area Jaber in Mafraq Governorate.

The strike prevailed in most sectors of shipping and land transport of trucks - according to the organizers - and included tanks transporting crude oil from the oil port in Aqaba Governorate to the oil refinery station in Zarqa Governorate (east of the Kingdom), trucks transporting goods and food containers, and those designated for transporting phosphates, potash, iron and raw materials for factories.

The fleet of land transport trucks and tanks in Jordan amounts to about 20,000 trucks - according to Ministry of Transport figures - of which about 60% work in internal and external transport. The authorities taxed diesel crude at 3.3 dinars ($4.6) per 20-liter bottle.

The strike is expanding
Yesterday morning, those in charge of buses operating on public transport lines in Karak Governorate (southern Jordan) announced that they would stop working and join the truck strike. Yesterday morning, the streets of the Jordanian capital, Amman, saw mechanisms, water tanks, tippers, and public transport buses stop working.

A committee for the owners of taxi offices (public taxis) announced that they will stop working today, Wednesday, and gather in public squares, and the square opposite the Jordanian Parliament, according to a statement by the committee. The Committee of Workers on Smart Applications also announced its strike for 4 hours a day, starting today, Wednesday, according to the committee's statement.

And like a snowball, the protest strikes against the successive rises in the prices of oil derivatives are getting bigger and expanding, driven by low transportation fares, whether for trucks or passengers.

Transport fare adjustment
And the Jordanian Land Transport Regulatory Authority announced last Monday evening that it had reached an agreement with the Truck Owners Union to amend the fees for transporting goods, according to a guiding regulation issued by the authority similar to the applicable transportation fees regulations approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The authority said - in a press statement last Monday evening - that the new wages come after the approval of the Minister of Transport during a meeting held with the Syndicate of Truck Owners, in the presence of the Minister of Transport, Maher Abu Al-Saman, and the Minister of Interior, Mazen Al-Faraya.

The recent agreement included adding an amount of 1.5 dinars ($2.1) per ton to the transportation fees for phosphate, potash and sulfur, and raising the container freight price to 500 dinars ($704) instead of 448 dinars ($631) until the container weighs 25 tons on the Amman-Aqaba axis. .

The authority confirmed that the new wages will be subject to the fuel pricing equation, whether it will increase or decrease, starting from the beginning of next year, and the new wages will start working from this morning, Wednesday, noting that, based on the above-mentioned agreement, it will form a committee that includes all concerned parties to discuss a number of challenges facing it. Transport sector.

strikers' demands
However, the agreement was not accepted by truck owners and drivers, who threatened to continue the strike until their demands are met, represented in:

Reversing the hike in fuel prices that took place in the last two months.
Raising the minimum wage for trucks by no less than 40%.
Linking the minimum wage to fuel prices, up and down.
Put deterrent penalties on clearance companies and brokers who do not adhere to the minimum wage.
Truck owners who spoke to Al-Jazeera Net complained about the high operating costs of the truck sector, which threatens the continuation of the fleet's work, especially in light of the high prices of spare parts, drivers' wages, transportation costs, annual license fees, and others.

stagnation in ports
On the docks of the port of Aqaba - Jordan's only sea port - the owners of customs clearance companies are complaining about the consequences of stopping handling and the accumulation of containers, warning of the danger of continuing the strike and harming the interests of the various economic sectors, and the suspension of vital supply chains.

According to the head of the Clearance Companies Syndicate, Dhaifallah Abu Aqoula, Jordan relies heavily on land transportation to transport imported and exported goods and merchandise, from within the Kingdom to the port of Aqaba and border crossings with neighboring countries.

Diesel will rise by 45% in 2022
During the current year, the prices of diesel (diesel) witnessed 8 consecutive increases, compared to fixing its prices for 4 months, and the price of a liter of diesel in the current month’s pricing was 89.5 piasters ($1.26), and the value of a diesel bottle (20 liters) was 17.9 dinars ($25). Recorded an increase of 45% since the beginning of 2022, according to the economist specializing in energy affairs, Amer Al-Shobaki.

 

https://www.aljazeera.net/ebusiness/2022/12/7/إضراب-للشاحنات-يعم-الأردن