South Sudanese staff of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have refused to take their January salaries and are threatening to strike following the devaluation of the South Sudan Pound last month.

The value of UNMISS staff salaries decreased by over 80% with the drop in the official value of the SSP.

"How can I pay for my children's school fees in Uganda?" asked one staff member.

UNMISS staff salaries were paid in SSP before the civil war, but were paid in dollars at a conversion rate of 3.16 SSP to the dollar after the crisis broke out. Now, the conversion rate has jumped to 18.50 SSP to the dollar.

That means a national staff member with a hypothetical salary of 3000 SSP per month would have received 949 dollars per month before December 2015, but in January 2016 would only receive 162 dollars.

"If this is the case then there is no use working for the UN," a second staff member said.

UNMISS national staff received an unexpected bonus for January, but staff say this will not be enough to cater for basic needs.

"How come they are paying us bonus when they are also cutting our salary?” one staff asked.

A national staff representative who requested anonymity said UNMISS leadership are supporting them in the labor dispute. The representative said the leadership has been in talks with the Compensations and Classification Unit at the Office of Human Resources Management at UN headquarters in New York over the matter.

However, negotiations ended in deadlock on Friday, the representative said. The representative urged colleagues not to strike.