Jordanian teachers to stage strike on August 17

Public school teachers will go on strike from August 17, the first day in the new academic year, to press a set of demands, including a job allowance and better pension and healthcare benefits, according to Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) president Hussam Masheh.
Masheh told a press conference that the strike was not an option, accusing the government of "turning a deaf ear" to the teachers' demands in the past months.
He said the syndicate stood by its call for an amendment to the civil service law, improvement in health insurance services, referring the education fund to the Anti-Corruption Commission, introduction of legislation to curb recurrent assaults on teachers and approval of the "Chalk Allowance" and the private education institutions system.
He vowed that the JTA would not compromise on teachers' "rights and fair demands," accusing the government of "reluctance and procrastination" in addressing those demands.
Masheh stressed that the syndicate took the students' interests into account, but added that the work stoppage was a new opportunity for the government to answer the teachers' demands.
He warned that the JTA would press ahead with the strike if the government did not budge, but assured that the protest would be "disciplined" as bulletins will be distributed in the field "regarding the strike's mechanism and gradual moves forward to fulfill the syndicate's demands."