Mulki to meet teachers’ union as open-ended strike on cards

AMMAN – With an open-ended, nation-wide teachers’ strike possible at the beginning of the next academic year, Prime Minister Hani Mulki will meet the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) council later this week to discuss its demands, according to syndicate spokesperson Ahmad Hajaya.

The meeting will come days after the JTA council announced its plans to call for an indefinite, nation-wide strike from the start of the new school year in September if teachers’ demands were not met. 

“The JTA council said, in its urgent meeting late last week, that an open-ended strike is our sole option to protest against the injustice our teachers are facing,” Hajaya told The Jordan Times on Sunday, noting that Education Minister Omar Razzaz conveyed to the council Mulki’s plans to meet with the JTA this week.

He noted that teachers are protesting recent amendments to the civil service by-law, which he described as “unfair” to all public sector employees, especially teachers, who make up 56 per cent of the total number of government employees. 

Educators are also demanding the approval of amendments to the JTA law suggested by its council, particularly those related to the safety and wellbeing of teachers, the syndicate’s fund and its financial and administrative by-laws. 

They are also calling for raising the professional allowance from 100 per cent to 150 per cent. 

“We have been raising these issues with the Cabinet for a long time and have not received any reply yet. We hope that the prime minister will understand our demands,” Hajaya added. 

Established under a 2011 law, the association has 140,000 members, its central commission has 313 members and the syndicate’s council is made up of 15 members.

In 2014, the association organised a two-week strike that crippled public school education at the beginning of the school year.

The JTA’s demands at the time included changes to the civil service by-law regarding sick leave, promotions and leave without pay; investigating the Education Ministry’s pension fund and referring the case to the judiciary; implementing a “better medical insurance system”; bringing in legislation to protect teachers from assault; awarding them more financial benefits; and ensuring that they are given “better contracts” at private schools.