Youth council employees protest to demand higher pay

AMMAN — Higher Youth Council (HYC) employees on Sunday organised a sit-in outside its premises to demand a 100 per cent “independent youth institution” allowance.

Yousef Diges, an HYC employee, said staff members of other independent government institutions receive a similar allowance.

“We call on the government to approve the allowance since it will be disbursed from the council’s budget and not affect the state budget,” Diges told The Jordan Times during the sit-in, noting that the HYC can afford the payment.

HYC President Sami Majali said the council sent a letter outlining the employees’ demands to the Cabinet, which referred it to the Civil Service Bureau for consideration.

“The allowance committee at the bureau will meet to look into the demand and submit its recommendation to the Council of Ministers to make a decision,” Majali told The Jordan Times at his office.

The HYC president explained that disbursing the allowance is a state decision, and the government is the one that decides the source of the funds.

Diges noted that the council referred the employees’ demand to the government last Thursday, and they are waiting for a reply.

Imad Breizat, another HYC employee who participated in the protest, said there are first category employees who hold bachelor’s degrees and have been serving for more than 10 years, and their salaries do not exceed JD300.

“The minimum salary of sanitation workers is JD340; at least give us that much,” Breizat said.

The 32-year-old noted that a great number of HYC employees are not married, since they cannot afford wedding expenses and house rents with such low salaries.

Breizat said the employees decided on Sunday evening to halt the protest until June 14, the day on which the HYC’s Al Hussein Camps are scheduled to open.

“If our demand is not met by that date, employees at all HYC directorates across the Kingdom will go on strike.”