Civil servants gathered in the inner courtyard of the Saida Serail, June 23, 2022. (Photo: Mountasser Abdallah)
BEIRUT — Civil servants, now in the second week of an open-ended strike, held two sit-ins Thursday, at the Serails of Saida and Nabatieh. They are demanding improvements in their working conditions, report L’Orient Today’s correspondent and the state-run National News Agency.
Here’s what we know:
• “We want justice”; “we want fair salaries,” read signs held by sit-in demonstrators in Saida. A protester declared that the strike would continue until the government meets their demands: an increase in transportation allowance, a re-evaluation of medical coverage plans and increased salaries.
• In Nabatieh, civil servants, joined by governor Hassan Fakih, protested “public sector employees working unsalaried and for nothing,” as the head of the local branch of the Public Administration Employees Association put it, warning of an upcoming “central protest” in Beirut.
• The Public Administration Employees Association called for today’s Saida sit-in on Monday. Ongoing since June 13, the job action has reportedly disrupted cargo handling at Beirut and Tripoli ports.