Ramallah – On May 5th, 2010, the UNRWA Area Staff Union held an expanded meeting for central West Bank members of the general conference in Al-Badran halls in Al-Bireh, to present the steps the union will be taking in defense of workers’ rights. This meeting was organized in cooperation with the Federation of Independent Unions – Palestine and with DWRC’s support.
Dr. Shaker Al-Risheq, the union’s president, opened the session by recalling the various issues that led to the current crisis between the union and UNRWA’s management, clarifying that the dismissal of the Shofat School’s principal was the spark that ignited the crisis. He stressed the fact that UNRWA’s management has to respect laws that protect human rights and employees’ rights, otherwise the union will have to escalate its actions. He highlighted the union’s demand for the immediate reinstatement of the dismissed school principal, protection of employees from such managerial practices and union representation in any investigation conducted by UNRWA.
The representative of the Federation of Independent Unions expressed the solidarity and support from FIUP, its member unions and partner unions, to the UNRWA Area Staff Union in their struggle for upholding the dignity of Palestinian workers, men and women.
Taha Al-Bass, Director General of the Executive Office for Refugees, clarified that popular committees in camps decided to launch several actions to face the intransigent policies followed by UNRWA’s management, warning the agency to halt its current staff reduction policies.
Dr. Muhammad Al-Aboushi representative of National Initiative, called for forming an independent inspection committee to re-investigate the issue of Shofat School Principal’s dismissal, as he confirmed his rejection and everybody’s disapproval of arbitrary dismissal policies and stressed the need to realize workers’ rights and guarantee them job security.