The logo of the League of Public Administration Employees, which is calling for an open ended strike starting Monday, June 13. (Credit: National News Agency)
BEIRUT — Public administration employees in Lebanon are set to go on an open strike, starting Monday, June 13, to demand an increase in salaries and for the caretaker government to take other measures to help them cope with deteriorating living conditions.
Here’s what we know:
• In a press release, civil servants from the League of Public Administration Employees decried the "humiliation" to which they are subjected to while "state funds are wasted before their eyes.”
• In a statement, the League called for increased salaries and compensations “in line with inflation” by calculating their Lebanese lira payouts in accordance with Banque du Liban’s Sayrafa platform, and not the official exchange rate of 1,507.5 lira to the US dollar. On Wednesday, the Sayrafa platform traded at an average 24,400 Lebanese lira to the US dollar, slightly lower than the parallel market rate of approximately LL 28,000.
• The civil servants are also asking for an increase in their retirement pensions and an immediate increase in their medical, social aid and transport benefits.
• They also demanded shorter working hours, with shifts ending at 2 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, and noon on Friday. Working longer than these hours is “unjustified under current conditions,” the statement added.
• In January, the government approved several measures to support civil servants, including an increase in transport allowances and exceptional aid to all categories of civil servants, as Lebanon has been experiencing the worst financial and socio-economic crisis in its history.
• The national currency has lost more than 95 percent of its value since the financial crisis erupted in 2019, pushing more than three quarters of the population into poverty.