Jordan judiciary demands shut down of teachers’ union

The Jordan judiciary ordered a two-year shut down of the teachers union after hauling members of the union’s council in for alleged “criminal and corruption charges”, Alaraby English reported.

The shut-down and alleged criminal activity has led to activists being detained for a week -the charges and accusations were not elaborated upon by local media outlet Petra.

On Saturday, Amman prosecutor-general Hassan Abdallat ordered a two-year closure of the headquarters of the Teachers Association, its branches and offices nation-wide, official Petra news agency said

The active Teachers’ Association have been organising action against the Jordanian government, demanding it honours a 2019 agreement to raise the wages of teachers.

Jordan: Teachers protest to urge government to implement agreed pay rises

The suspension comes after the union organised a demonstration attended by hundreds on the pay disputes.

The government reached an agreement with the teaching union after a month long strike over salaries, demanding a 50 percent pay rise.

The deal eventually struck allowed for pay rises ranging between 35 and 75 percent.

However in April of this year, the government announced it was freezing public sector pay due to financial difficulties owing to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The Teachers’ Association represents 100,000 teachers.