Jordan teachers strike over demand for salaries to double

Amman (dpa) – Thousands of Jordanian teachers went on strike Wednesday for the third consecutive day to demand a sharp increase in their salaries, forcing a closure of classrooms across the kingdom.

The strike – one of the largest work stoppages in the country’s history – came after the government failed to respond to teachers’ calls for a 100 percent pay increase.

“We have learned that strikes are the most effective tools we teachers can use to show the government that we are serious about our demand,” said the head of the Teachers’ Association Council, Mustafa Rawashdeh.

The government has offered to raise teachers’ salaries by 30 percent over three years, but the offer was turned down by the association, whose formation was only approved last year after several years of struggle, in a victory attributed in part to the Arab Spring.