Ammon News - JT- Employees of the Jordan Press Foundation (JPF) on Wednesday condemned the storming of their offices by Gendarmerie Forces as the board of directors failed to immediately meet their demands to stop a month-long protest.

The Gendarmerie Forces entered the headquarters of JPF, which publishes Al Rai and The Jordan Times, after the protesters gathered on the same floor where the board was meeting to discuss six demands presented by representatives of the employees.

They left shortly afterwards and the employees issued a statement condemning the “flagrant interference” and rejecting a statement by the board, in which the directors cited financial problems and deterioration in the print media sector in general as the reason for deferring the payment of a month-salary bonus and other benefits promised in a labour agreement signed in 2011.

The JPF workers demanded an apology from the government over the entry of Gendarmerie Forces, with several protesters calling for the downfall of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour’s Cabinet and the company’s board of directors.

Al Rai Chief Editor Samir Hiyari, who attended part of the JPF board meeting, refused to read the statement issued by board members, telling protesters that it does not address their demands.

The protesters burned the statement without reading it, but it was carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Regarding the demand to expel the board of directors, the top executives said they will refer the issue to the shareholders “with complete honesty”, stating that experts are currently studying the printing press project and the distribution company to decide who to hold to account in case of any imbalances.

Financial claims raised by the employees were tied to a better performance of the foundation in the future, the board’s statement said, without specifying any date to implement the 2011 deal.

They also promised to look into the appointment of columnists, allegedly under pressure from power centres, saying that this file has been referred to chief editors to decide on.

In a related development, the Jordan Press Association (JPA) issued a statement later in the evening commending JPF employees for maintaining the approach of civilised dialogue in their protest, Petra reported.

The association said the chairman’s request that security forces interfere to disperse protesters was “unjustified”, “unprecedented” and could have sparked a major crisis if the security personnel had not fully understood that the problem at the JPF is “purely a matter of labour rights”.

The JPA reaffirmed its support for the protesters’ demands, urging official entities to salvage the foundation from its crisis.

The employees are pressing on with their ban on the coverage and publishing of news on Ensour and his Cabinet until further notice.

They condemn the negative responses they have received from the government, which controls the JPF’s board of directors through the Social Security Corporation (SSC), the owner of the majority of foundation’s shares.

On Tuesday, the protesters threatened to go on an open-ended strike starting next Monday if their demands are not met.

JPF Director General Omran Kheir submitted his resignation on Monday amid workers’ demands of replacing the entire board, where SSC representatives call the shots.

In its Wednesday meeting, the board appointed its member, Azmi Al Kayed, as an acting director general to run the foundation’s affairs.