UNRWA Employees Plan Strike to Protest Cuts to Aid and Services

UNRWA is the UN agency dedicated to serving Palestinian refugees. (Photo: UNRWA)

The union of workers for UNRWA announced that they were planning a one-day strike in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank to protest cuts to aid and services.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after the union staged a temporary strike in the occupied Palestinian territory, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan to protest against low salaries and severe staff shortages.

“There have been ongoing discussions with the UN local administration in the Gaza Strip regarding the issues, but they did not lead to any results,” union spokesman Suheil Al-Hindi told Ma’an.

https://twitter.com/Mohib_Rainbow/status/777850203919491072

Al-Hindi also claimed that the United Nations had turned down all of the union’s demands regarding wages, early retirement and employee classification during its General Assembly in New York City last week.

He also warned that if the UN doesn’t respond to the employees’ demands, an open strike would take place in all UNRWA facilities.

A spokesperson for UNRWA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Al-Hindi once again accused the UNRWA administration of not filling in nearly 500 vacant teaching positions, claiming the agency was cost-cutting.

(MEMO, PC)

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