By Omar Obeidat
AMMAN –– UNRWA on Monday criticised a workers’ union decision to stage work stoppages today, calling on staff not to deny refugees access to services.
Staff unions in the agency's five fields of operation (Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank) will carry out regional strikes today, claiming that UNRWA went back on a promise to raise employees' retirement compensation benefits.
Late last month, unions threatened to carry out a series of mass protests in response to the relief agency’s decision not to improve its end-of-service compensation system.
Unionists demand that retiring employees receive severance pay equivalent to two months' salary for each year of service rather than the current amount of one month per year.
According to worker representatives, UNRWA Commissioner General Karen AbuZayd agreed last month to a proposal entailing moderate increases of retirement benefits staggered over several years, a claim the agency has repeatedly denied.
Sami Mshasha, UNRWA’s chief of public information office and spokesperson, described the planned work stoppages as “counterproductive, disruptive and sending all the wrong messages to refugees, donors and to the staff themselves”.
"UNRWA regrets the staff union's decision to suspend services in a staggered fashion to protest the alleged failure to meet a promise to improve end-of-service benefits for staff,” Mshasha said in an e-mail sent to The Jordan Times yesterday.
Staff union demands come at a period during which the agency is facing financial difficulties, struggling to meet the basic needs of refugees while burdened with a widening budget deficit, he added.
According to UNRWA official figures, the salaries of the agency’s 30,000 employees are above the average salaries of the host countries' public sector employees, he noted.
“UNRWA's comprehensive health insurance to staff, the Provident Fund and end-of-service benefits plus an annual salary increase is considered to be one of the most competitive in the region amongst public sector employers,” Mshasha said.
Some 30,000 UNRWA employees provide health, social and educational services to 4.5 million Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank.
