Palestinian teachers demand wages from unity gov't

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Apr 30 (Reuters) Palestinian public school teachers pushed their way into government offices today demanding their full wages in the first protest of its kind since a Hamas-led unity government was formed last month.

Hundreds of teachers took part in the protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Police used batons to push back a small group of the teachers at the offices of the Palestinian prime minister. Some of the protesters were hit but none sustained serious injuries.

The teachers had earlier tried to storm the offices of Education Minister Naser al-Shaer but he was not there.

The protest underscored the difficulties faced by the Palestinian government in meeting the expectations of Palestinians who have not received their full wages since Hamas Islamists came to power in March 2006.

The teachers chanted and held up banners, one of which read: ''Salaries are our right''.

Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad plans to start paying partial salaries to government workers at the start of each month, but union leaders say that falls short of the government's promises.

Government employees' union chief Bassam Zakarneh has threatened a new round of work stoppages, starting with a one-day ''warning'' strike on Wednesday, to demand full wages and back pay.

Hamas Islamists formed a unity government last month with President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction in a bid to end internal fighting and ease a year-old economic embargo.

But tensions between Hamas and Fatah remain high, particularly in the Gaza Strip, and a Western ban on direct aid to the Palestinian Authority remains in place.

Fayyad is counting on receiving at least 55 million dollars a month from Arab League members to cover about half of the Palestinian Authority's monthly payroll.

Fayyad's payments would be timed to coincide with ''allowances'' paid to workers through a European aid programme known as the Temporary International Mechanism. The European payments are expected to total up to 34 million dollars a month.

Together, Fayyad and the Europeans could cover up to 75 per cent of the Palestinian Authority's 115 million dollars monthly wage and pension bill, Western diplomats said.

The plan hinges in large part on the Bush administration giving a green light for Arab donors and banks to transfer funds to a Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) account under Fayyad's control.

REUTERS SS HS1641