UNRWA EMPLOYEES IN JORDAN STAGE ONE DAY STRIKE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001032 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2018 TAGS: PREF ECON ELAB KPAL JO SUBJECT: UNRWA EMPLOYEES IN JORDAN STAGE ONE DAY STRIKE REF: A. AMMAN 670 ¶B. AMMAN 815 Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Local employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) across Jordan stayed home from work on April 8 in a one-day protest over compensation. They are demanding a wage increase that will keep their salaries competitive with employees of the Jordanian government, along with additional benefits. Negotiations with the three unions representing UNRWA employees are ongoing, but an open-ended strike is promised starting April 14 if action is not forthcoming. UNRWA employees Post talked to realize that the agency is operating in a deficit, but see a wage increase as only fair given the inflationary environment in Jordan. Refugees are being understanding for now, but may be less forgiving if services are interrupted for a longer period. On the management side, UNRWA is struggling to cope with economic forces that are out of its hands. End Summary. The Strike -------------- ¶2. (U) On April 8, UNRWA employees in Jordan staged a one-day walkout to protest the widening gap between wages and rising prices in Jordan (Refs A & B). Schools in refugee camps across Jordan were closed for the day, and clinics were either shut down completely or run with a minimum number of staff. There have been indications for some time that UNRWA employees were unhappy with the inability of the agency to keep up with the rising cost of living in Jordan. Yesterday's strike follows a sit-in by UNRWA employees on February 24 in which they called for similar pay increases and allowances. UNRWA's employees are now threatening a longer term, open-ended strike starting on April 14 if their demands are unmet. The three unions of UNRWA employees (which represent the agency's teachers, laborers, and administrators) are still in discussions with UNRWA management and a technical committee about the possibility of wage increases. ¶3. (U) After the Jordanian government passed this year's budget in February 2008, UNRWA's local workforce was given a one-time JD 50 (USD 70) bonus to match an identical amount given to public sector employees by the Jordanian government as part of its "social safety net" program. In the face of ever-increasing inflation, UNRWA employees have demanded a monthly salary increase of JD 50 (USD 70) per month, university slots for their children, and a link between their salaries and inflation rates. Such remunerative benefits either already exist or are being phased in by the Jordanian government for its employees (GOJ employees in various sectors - especially the armed forces - already have quota slots for their children in universities),leading UNRWA staff to ask for parity with their counterparts in the public sector. Employee and Refugee Perspectives -------------- ¶4. (C) "A lot of our most experienced people have left for NGOs or other UN agencies," says Mazin Sadieh, the camp services officer in Irbid. He posits that UNRWA's special status within the UN - which causes it to be dependent on direct government donations rather than drawing from the UN's general budget - has led to the instability in the agency's funding cycle and periodic deficits. As a consequence, Sadieh relays that after more than fifteen years of working for UNRWA, he makes as much as a friend who works as a handyman for UNICEF. "They must go to the international community and ask for more money," Sadieh and our other contacts in UNRWA insist. Agency employees with whom we talked hope that a solution will be brokered in the next few days, but they also realize that the agency's funding situation is bleak. Several saw the start of an open-ended strike next week as inevitable. ¶5. (C) Jihad Thaher, an area officer who is not part of the union, says that the refugees he spoke to in Zarqa camp's health clinic on the day of the strike were generally sympathetic; since the vast majority of camp residents live on the economic fringe themselves, they realize what is at stake. Rula Arar, camp services officer in Souf camp, says that the refugees are very concerned about further interruptions in services, especially where the schools are concerned. Late notification of the strike (which was only announced the day before) caused several students to turn up at school only to find it devoid of teachers. Management's Dilemma -------------- AMMAN 00001032 002 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) UNRWA officials have told us privately for some time what they are telling their employees publicly: the money simply isn't there. UNRWA is operating with a deficit of over USD 100 million this year, and would certainly grant its workers equal compensation with their Jordanian government counterparts if it could afford to. According to its 2008-2009 budget, the cost of UNRWA operations in Jordan was set to increase over twenty-seven percent (and over seventy-nine percent for its Amman headquarters operations) this year, due mainly to the rising cost of local labor. Sheldon Pitterman, who was UNRWA's operations director in Jordan up until last week, told us that in addition to the rising cost of labor, the agency's budget is feeling the pinch when it comes to other fixed costs such as food aid, maintenance supplies, and land. With budgetary strains coming from every side, UNRWA has little room to deal with the demands of its employees - a situation guaranteed to bring further labor unrest. HALE