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