RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority's public workers union has called for full strike Wednesday and Thursday and again next week in protest of the government's failure to pay salaries.
The head of the union, Bassam Zakarneh, said Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority was allowing the United States and Israel's pressure over the UN bid to affect the Palestinian people.
After a meeting Tuesday in Ramallah of the union's leadership, Zakarneh said representatives of the governor and ministries discussed ways of managing the crisis.
"The employees cannot even pay for transportation to get to work," Zakarneh said. "The union understands there is American and Israeli pressure on the Palestinian people," he said.
He said the strike would begin Wednesday and last through the next day. Then employees will repeat the same schedule the following week, staying home Oct. 23 and 24.
The union will meet again on Oct. 31 to discuss changes to the situation.
The union accused the government of "also placing pressure on the Palestinian people," and rejected the current policy of pledging partial salaries and not announcing a clear date for payments. The union noted that more than 90 percent of employees have loan payments and other obligations.
Installments
Amid mounting debts, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has repeatedly delayed and paid in part its employees' salaries.
The Palestinian Authority said Tuesday it would pay low wage earners part of their September salaries on Thursday, while those with higher salaries will wait until later in October.
Labor Minister Ahmad Majdalani told Ma'an that those receiving between 1,500 - 4,000 shekels ($395 - $1,050) per month would receive their salaries on Thursday.
According to Majdalani, neither Arab nor foreign donor countries are expected to channel any money to the PA before the Eid holiday begins on Oct. 26, as the financial crisis continues.
Zakarneh said he was willing to hold serious dialogue with the government to set a date for the payment of salaries, but it rejects the payment of partial salaries. It wants a response to 28 demands it submitted two weeks earlier and information about a "joint strategy."
Osama al-Najjar, the head of head of a healthcare union, said it too was planning a strike.
The US cut funding to the Palestinian Authority in 2011 over its bid to join the United Nations as a state. President Mahmoud Abbas has indicated he will try again in November for a less ambitious title of non-member state, a designation also opposed by Washington.
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