Palestinian workers of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza staged a general strike on Sunday, April 9, over long-standing demands, such as lack of recruitment, substandard working conditions, and low wages, among others. According to the workers, despite repeated attempts and appeals to the agency, they have not received the desired response.
UNRWA is yet to implement the agreements reached during negotiations with the workers’ unions last year, which took place after a similar general strike in November. The agency had given assurances to workers that their demands would be met by the start of this year.
However, UNRWA now claims that it was unable to fulfill the demands due to a budget deficit owing to donation shortages. This shortage can also be attributed to the US stopping its annual US$ 300 million contribution in 2018, under the presidency of Donald Trump. While the US contribution resumed in 2021 after the election of President Joe Biden, UNRWA is still dealing with a shortfall, media reports noted.
Among the demands of the workers was the appointment of an additional 1,500 teachers in UNRWA-run schools in Gaza. Only 200 have been appointed so far. The agency is also yet to give fixed contracts to teachers currently employed on temporary daily contracts, another main demand of the workers.
UNRWA had pledged in past agreements to reduce the number of teachers working on a daily contractual basis to 7.5%. At the time of this commitment, this percentage stood at 15.44, or 1,404 teachers, according to the agency’s own data. It had also committed to giving permanent contracts to 60 sanitation workers under the age of 60, who had been working for the last 12 years without adequate rights or employment benefits.
UNRWA had further agreed to increase its recruitment—especially of graduates—along with salaries, amid a long-running economic crisis in Gaza due to the 16-year-old Israeli blockade resulting in shortage of goods and services, lack of employment, low wages, and inflation.
Head of the labor section of the Arab Employees’ Union of the UNRWA, Azmi Radwan, said that all UNRWA facilities took part in the strike on Sunday. Some reports estimate that close to 50,000 teachers did not report to work at UNRWA-run schools and health clinics were also closed. Sanitation workers also participated in the strike, which led to garbage piling up in the streets.
The union in a statement noted that there was “large” participation of its members in the strike and called on the “UNRWA administration to abide by previous agreements, improve the conditions of employees, and open the doors for recruitment of hundreds of graduates.” It threatened to launch an open-ended strike if these demands remain unfulfilled.
