Jordanian electricity workers call off strike

AMMAN, April 16 (Reuters) - Workers at Jordan's largest electricity generation company called off a two-week strike that had threatened power cuts after the Saudi-owned firm agreed to demands for salary hikes, officials and union activists said on Monday.

Ali al-Hadid, head of the electricity workers' union, told Reuters the Central Electricity Generating Company (CEGCO) met the workers' demands for a substantial extra pay package of over $130 per month, which applied to salaries of most of the 1,200 staff, along with better working conditions.

Industry executives had warned in the last few days that unless the strike ended soon, power cuts would be inevitable at CEGCO's plants, which produce nearly half of Jordan's electricity.

The fears arose after striking workers escalated their industrial action and began disrupting fuel supplies to some power plants.

Abdul Fatah Nsour, CEGCO chief executive, confirmed that a settlement had been reached but refused to disclose the cost of conceding to the strikers' demands.

Nsour earlier had said meeting the demands would cost the company over 4.9 million dinars ($6.9 million), almost half its 2011 profits, and harm its competitiveness.

CEGCO, in which Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power International owns a controlling stake, runs seven plants with a capacity of around 1,700 megawatts, supplying around 51 percent of Jordan's current power consumption.

The Jordanian government and a government pension fund own a 50 percent stake in the company, which was privatised several years ago as part of efforts to encourage investors to set up plants to help meet growing demand for power.

($1=0.709 dinars) (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi, editing by Jane Baird)