Jordan: State school teachers to ‘strike’ demanding higher pay

The Jordanian Teachers’ Association (JTA) announced yesterday that it will start a strike on Sunday in a new escalation to demand a pay increase.

This came in remarks made by the union’s spokesman Noureddine Nadin to Anadolu Agency, coinciding with a continuous vigil near the government headquarter in Amman.

The union council will meet later today to discuss the next steps, Nadin said.

The announcement of the strike comes at a time when the kingdom is witnessing a widespread protests by teachers to demand a 50 per cent pay increase.

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Jordanian security forces tried to break up the protesters gathered near the government headquarters by firing tear gas, which partially dispersed the participants, but they soon formed again.

The teachers’ union was established in 2011 and includes about 140,000 members.

Walid Jallad, a spokesman for the Ministry of Education, estimates that the cost of the teachers’ demand would reach 112 million dinars ($158 million), according to Arab News.