Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Workers

Hanging by a Thread—The Red Sea Blockade and Jordan's Fragile Garment Industry
Bangladeshi women at work in a Chinese-owned garment factory in Jordan, 2024. Katharina GrüeneislFig.1 Changing import and export routes in Jordan’s garment sector in reaction to the Red Sea blockade. (Source: Lagarde, Grüeneisl and Labadi 2024)View over the Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) in June 2024. Katharina GrüeneislMigrant workers walk back to their dormitories in the Al-Hassan (Irbid) industrial zone, 2024. Katharina Grüeneisl
MER Article

Hanging by a Thread—The Red Sea Blockade and Jordan's Fragile Garment Industry

Houthi attacks have revealed an industrial paradox.
Katharina Grüneisl, Taher Labadi • 15 min read
Putting Workers on the Map
MERIP Reports number 94, February 1981. Cover drawing and design by Johanna Vogelsang.Figure 1. Labor-related articles in MERIP (online) per year, per topic.The cover image on the January 1975 issue number 34 is courtesy the United Farm Workers.Cover photo by José Luis Moreano/El País.
MER Article

Putting Workers on the Map

When the first issue of MERIP Reports was published in May 1971, discussions of labor relations and workers were common in the New Left circles from which its editors emerged but were nearly invisible in debates about the Middle East and North Africa among American and European academics and activists.
Peyman Jafari • 7 min read
Labor Organizing on the Rise Among Iranian Oil Workers
The Mahshahr petrochemical plant in Khuzestan province. Raheb Homavandi/ReutersFigure 1. The sources of the raw data for these maps are news articles published in Hrana, Akhbar-e Rooz, and Radio Zamaneh. The 2020 map covers strikes reported from August 1 to September 6, 2020, and the 20201 map covers strikes from June 19 to August 2, 2021.Figure 2. Monthly protests reported in ILNA.Figure 3. Monthly number of counties with protest reported in ILNA.
Current Analysis

Labor Organizing on the Rise Among Iranian Oil Workers

Oil workers in Iran have been striking since June 19, 2021, leading some observers to ask whether protests are becoming routine within the existing political system or are a prelude to a bigger uprising. The authors explain what makes these strikes remarkable, why Iran's neoliberal policies pushed w
Mohammad Ali Kadivar, Peyman Jafari, Mehdi Hoseini, Saber Khani • 14 min read
No Good Options for Migrant Workers in Gulf COVID-19 Lockdown
Workers wear protective face masks during the coronavirus pandemic in Dubai, UAE, April 23, 2020. Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters
Covid-19 Coverage

No Good Options for Migrant Workers in Gulf COVID-19 Lockdown

Andrea Wright talks to South Asian migrant workers in the Gulf to find out how the pandemic is affecting their lives. They explain that if they stay in the Gulf, they risk abandonment by their employers and coronavirus infection from cramped living conditions. If they return to India under lockdown,
Andrea Wright • 12 min read