Date: 30 April 2006
Title: His Majesty King Abdullah II's Message on Labour Day

In the name of God, the most Merciful, the Compassionate

His Excellency Brother Mazen al-Ma`aitah, may God protect him,
President, The General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions,
Peace, God's mercy and blessings be upon you,

It gives me pleasure to convey to you, and to every worker, male and female, in our dear homeland my appreciation for and pride in your distinguished efforts on the path of work, achievement, enhancement of the development and production march and for your contributions in building Jordan first, now and in the future.

As we warmly congratulate every brother and sister of the dear homeland's workers, on Labour Day, we reaffirm that we are constantly keen to continue every effort and means possible to provide employment for all Jordanians, and to help youth to utilize these opportunities to improve their living conditions, and to prepare the proper climate that enables them to realize their ambitions, and face up to this century's challenges.

Training and education for workers are necessary goals that should be realized to ensure developmental success. In this context, we look forward to the contribution of the Worker's Education Institute to promoting the Jordanian worker's efficiency and competitiveness, the standard of his knowledge of his rights and duties and his refusal of the culture of shame, especially when Jordan has become a center that attracts Arab and foreign investments that provide employment opportunities that demand qualified, trained Jordanian workers, who uphold their duties with precision and professionalism.

Since we have always sought to empower workers to play an influential role in building Jordan, we aspire to provide them with a social safety net and guarantee their rights, so that they may realize their aspiration to a decent living and secure future. The relation between the three components of production should be one built on trust that stems from serious dialogue and discovers the common denominators that can realize the objectives of all concerned.

We also would like to emphasize the need to enhance and cement partnership and constructive cooperation between the public and private sectors so as to reduce unemployment, to train Jordanian workers so that they are armed with the necessary qualifications to work in factories and different service and production sectors and to avail them of the opportunity to prove their ability to work, produce, achieve and create.

We are sure that, with will and resolve, we are able, with the help of God Almighty, to build the future of which all Jordanians, men and women, are worthy, and to realize our vision in building Jordan as a role model, a the homeland of justice, equality and equal opportunity.

Once again, I convey to you my greetings, workers of the homeland, wherever you work, and I reaffirm my deep feeling of pride of you, your giving and your will; and I congratulate all of you on Labour Day; many happy returns of the day, and may God grant us all success to serve dear Jordan.

Peace, God's mercy and blessings by upon you.

Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein
Amman,
2 Rabi' al-Thani 1427 Hijri
30 April 2006