Jordan reaches deal with teachers union to end one-month strike

AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan’s government said on Sunday it has reached a pay deal with the teachers union to end a one-month strike, the country’s longest public sector strike that disrupted schooling for over 1.5 million students.

The deal came after the strike threatened a deepening political crisis when the government last week began legal steps against the unions after they rejected meagre pay hikes they said were “bread crumbs” and the government said it could not afford to give more.

The pay deal that raises allowances from 35 to 60 percent to teachers from next year comes after weeks of deadlock with the government intransigent over meeting an original 50 percent pay rise demanded by the unions it said would strain the heavily indebted country’s finances.

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(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Chris Reese)

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