One of the key trends of the Arab Spring has been the increased confidence of the people to protest. Many of these protests are complaints about the lack of jobs and the cost of living. Protests in the streets are well known about. What is less well documented is the increase in disputes and strikes within the work place. Jordan has seen a distinct rise in the number of industrial disputes over the past five years. Between 2009 – 2012 the number of cases dealt with by the Ministry of Labour more than doubled, and since at least 2010 observers have noted an unprecedented increase in the number of strikes. There has also been an apparent increase in the number of individual (as opposed to collective) labour disputes coming to court. This situation has been exacerbated more recently as further inflows of migrant (legal and illegal) labour has arrived. However, there is a general lack of data to accurately quantify the frequency of labour disputes.
Some disputes have had major impacts: a strike at Aqaba Port caused Jordan’s only sea container