PA EMPLOYEES STRIKE IN PROTEST OF UNPAID SALARIES

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 002672 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR WILLIAMS/GREENE/WATERS/WAECHTER; NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/LOGERFO; TREASURY FOR NUGENT/ADKINS; USAID FOR BORODIN; DRL FOR DEMARIA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN PHUM KLAB KWBG SUBJECT: PA EMPLOYEES STRIKE IN PROTEST OF UNPAID SALARIES REF: A. JERUSALEM 2577 ¶B. JERUSALEM 2545 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Palestinian Authority (PA) workers in the West Bank and Gaza went on strike June 22 in protest of non-payment of salaries. Municipal workers in some localities also went on strike. The PA Employees Union called off a planned June 28-29 strike due to political/security developments in Gaza. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) PA employees participated in a one-day strike June 22 at PA ministries and public institutions in the West Bank and Gaza, per the directive made by the PA Employees Union (ref A). Participation was widespread in the West Bank, including at the Ministries of Transportation, National Economy and Planning. USAID Gaza-based staff reported poor participation by PA employees in Gaza, possibly due to an earlier disbursement of partial salaries in Gaza. The PA Employees Union excluded Ministry of Health (MOH) employees and teachers from the from the call to strike (ref A). ¶3. (SBU) According to press reports, the PA Employees Union Coordinator Tarik el-Sheikh said the strike was not intended to indicate a party preference, but to highlight the predicament faced by public sector employees, who had not received salaries in the last four months and could not afford to pay for public transportation to get to work. PA employees also protested the postponement of a Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) session to discuss this issue. (Note: The PLC had started to discuss the issue June 19, but then agreed to suspend discussion based on positive reports from the National Dialogue sessions in Gaza. End Note.) PA to dock strikers' annual leave -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In response to the strikes, the PA said that it would deduct the days that the PA employees were absent from their accumulated annual leave. Some ministries had tried to pre-empt the strike by issuing a circular to dissuade employees from participating. Contacts reported to EconSpecialist that many government services were unavailable June 22, such as drivers' license renewals and vehicle registration. The Post Office remained open only to continue paying partial salaries to PA employees, some of whom had to wait in line for 3.5 hours. Municipality workers also striking -------------- ¶5. (SBU) There were also sporadic strikes in some municipalities, including Ramallah on June 26, because of non-payment of salaries. (Note: The PA Finance Ministry collects local property taxes on behalf of municipalities and, in the past, transferred the revenue to the municipalities through the Ministry of Local Government. Given the PA's decreased revenue collection, municipalities are not receiving their normal levels of revenue from the PA. End Note.) ¶6. (SBU) Arabic daily Al-Quds reported June 27 that the PA Employees Union had canceled a strike that it had organized for June 28 and 29 due to the June 25 political and security developments in Gaza. The Union had originally appealed to PA employees to participate in a work stoppage at their workplace to protest the PA's neglect of PA workers. WALLES