UN agency for Palestinian refugees launches strike in Jordan

AMMAN, Jordan — Thousands of workers with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees have launched an open-ended strike in Jordan.

UNRWA spokesman Amjad Obeid says the agency’s more than 6,000 workers began the strike today, paralyzing its schools, health care and garbage-collection services in refugee camps. He says classes were canceled for some 120,000 students.

The UN Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA, is dealing with a budget crunch after an unprecedented loss of all funding from the United States, its largest donor.

Obeid says that workers are demanding raises of about $140 a month. He says the Jordanian government is trying to broker a settlement.

The strike doesn’t appear to affect the cash-strapped agency’s operations in the Palestinian territories or elsewhere in the region.

— AP