AMMAN — Municipalities on Sunday granted concessions to some of the demands made by workers, as their strike continued for a sixth day, despite rumours circulating on social media claiming the strike had ended .

 

The committee of municipalities’ mayors, appointed by the Minister of Transport and Minister of Municipal Affairs Walid Masri met on Sunday and decided to grant the municipalities’ employees a raise of JD15.  The comittee also agreed to readopt the instructions of paying bonuses and incentives for 2016, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported late Sunday evening.

 

The members of the committee decided to establish a savings fund for the municipalities’ employees, provided that a fund is appointed to each municipality, as well as housing the municipalities’ employees who practice a different profession than is stipulated in their job descriptions, according to the profession they used to practice before 2014.

 

Mohammed Nabil, a municipality worker told The Jordan Times before the decision: “We won’t yield until our demands are met.” An off-day on Saturday, a 20-60 per cent annual raise, work posts next to their places of residence, and other “privileges” that their co-government workers enjoy, were the demands formulated by the workers, as reported in the past few days.

 

The effects of the strike, most specifically the piles of garbage accumulating in the streets of several governorates such as Tafileh, Irbid and Karak, have enraged local residents.

 

“Workers in developed countries, like the bus drivers in Japan for example, went on strike but they still did their jobs. They didn’t take fares from the people, so as to affect the government’s income, but they still did their duties towards their people. Compare this situation to that,” highlighted Zein Farajat, a citizen from Aqaba studying in Karak.

 

Sharif Sayed, a resident in a remote area of Irbid, told The Jordan Times: “We are really scared that harmful creatures such as scorpions or snakes might start crawling under the piles.”

 

Residents were equally displeased with the governments methods of dealing with the situation before the concessions.

 

"This is unacceptable and disgusting. The government has a duty to do some damage control in times like these. Are they pleased that we are living like savages in the midst of this garbage?” asked Moeen Ghraibeh, a citizen residing in Tafileh.

 

Ronza Saher, a mother of one, commented: “What if police workers went on strike for some reason? Would the country run loose and be unstable for six days? The government is sending out a message that a strike as simple as this could destabilise them, so what if it was on a larger scale?”