AMMAN - Ad Dustour journalists on Thursday said they will continue their open-ended protest until their demands for a new salary scale and an additional month of pay are met.
Meanwhile, their peers at Al Arab Al Yawm said they will press the management for financial incentives after the holy month of Ramadan.
Ad Dustour journalist Mohammad Abbadi said the newspaper staff will not give up their demands and escalate measures by next week to pressure the Arabic daily to speed up their response to their demands.
Earlier this week, the newspaper staff started an open-ended protest after the board of directors decided to postpone consideration of their demands till the end of year.
"Our irreversible demands include raising the professional monthly allowance from JD50 to JD150, adopting a new salary scale, giving journalists an additional month of pay, and endorsing the end-of-service compensation," he said.
Abbadi, who is also vice president of the Jordan Press Association, told The Jordan Times that "so far, the newspaper's board of directors are turning a deaf ear to our demands".
He added that the board asked journalist to dismantle a tent set up for protesters as a precondition for negotiations.
"The protest, which started early this year, was put on hold after the management showed understanding to most of workers' demands but was renewed as the board of directors kept stalling," Abbadi said.
Giving an example of difficult work conditions at the newspapers, he noted that some newly appointed journalists are paid JD120 per month.
"All we seek is that new recruits receive a minimum of JD300 per month," Abbadi said, adding that "the newspaper has the financial ability to meet all our demands".
Meanwhile, Al Arab Al Yawm journalist Walid Husni said workers at the newspaper decided to give the administration a "grace period", as it approved a JD50 salary raise yesterday.
Husni, who is also the head of a committee tasked with negotiating with the newspaper's board of directors, said the staff agreed to suspend any protest action until after the Eid Al Fitr vacation.
"Right after Eid, we will start pressing for our demands of an additional month of pay and a better health insurance system," he said in a telephone interview with The Jordan Times.
© Jordan Times 2011
