Striking UNRWA staff hold sit-in protest

After 56 days of strike, hundreds of employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) held Monday a sit-in protest in Ramallah demanding more attention for their conflict with the UN agency.The employees went on strike to demand better wages and work conditions but their demands have been ignored in spite of several mediation efforts.A number of unionists and political leaders spoke during the protest expressing support for workers demands and calling on UNRWA to act immediately to find a solution for the strike that has shut down schools and clinics and stopped sanitary work in the West Bank camps.Some of the employees who have also been on hunger strike for 30 days were admitted to hospital following deterioration in their health.UNRWA says it does not have money to increase wages.