Palestinian workers strike over half pay

Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Palestinian workers staged a one-day strike on Wednesday to protest against the government's inability to pay full wages since Hamas Islamists came to power more than a year ago.

"Today's strike is a warning. If the government does not heed our demands, then I am afraid we are heading towards an open-ended strike," government workers' union chief Bassam Zakarneh said.

The union's stance underscored the difficult challenges facing the unity government formed nearly two months ago by the ruling Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction.

Palestinians hoped the power-sharing agreement would end fighting between the factions and ease a year-old Western aid embargo against the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

But tensions between Hamas and Fatah remain high and the ban on direct aid to the government remains in place.

Union leaders said up to 80,000 Palestinian government workers were taking part in Wednesday's strike, shutting down government ministries and buildings.

Hundreds of public school teachers took part in a one-day strike earlier this week demanding full wages and back pay.

A 133-day strike by civil employees paralyzed the Palestinian Authority last year and some Palestinian officials fear a similar scenario in the coming weeks.

Finance Minister Salam Fayyad told union leaders earlier this week he would pay at least half salaries to government workers, but not their full wages, because the Western embargo remains in place.

Fayyad is counting on receiving at least $55 million a month from Arab League members to cover about half of the Palestinian Authority's monthly payroll.

Fayyad's payments would be timed to coincide with "allowances" paid to workers through a European aid program, which are expected to total up to $34 million a month.

Fayyad told Reuters in an interview he expected to start receiving a major new injection of aid from Saudi Arabia soon. He said the package totaled $250 million, equivalent to some six weeks of the Palestinian Authority's basic funding needs.