The staff union of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza said on Monday it had entered an “open labour dispute” with the agency’s management, protesting what it described as arbitrary decisions.

The union said the measures included the dismissal of employees who were forced to leave Gaza during the war, as well as pay cuts and other steps it said undermined workers’ rights.

Hundreds of UNRWA employees, their families and representatives of Palestinian refugee bodies staged a protest outside the agency’s headquarters in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Protesters held banners denouncing what they called violations of staff rights, rejecting “arbitrary dismissals” and salary reductions.

They said the rights of refugees and UNRWA employees were not negotiable, stressing that the agency’s presence was a political entitlement rather than merely a humanitarian mission, Anadolu Agency reported.

There was no immediate comment from UNRWA on the dispute.