“Strike” read these panels installed on the closed gates in front of the municipality of Saida, in South Lebanon, on July 18, 2022. (Credit: Mountasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The municipalities of Saida-Zahrani (South Lebanon) and the district’s judicial assistants went on strike on Monday, joining a strike by civil servants launched five weeks ago against the backdrop of the country's economic collapse, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in South Lebanon reported.
Here’s what we know:
• According to our correspondent, the 16 municipalities of the Saida-Zahrani district have closed their doors as part of a three-day “warning strike” announced by the president of the federation of municipalities Mohammad al-Saoudi, to demand several things, including the payments of the allowances due to the municipalities by the state.
• The judicial assistants also started an open strike to protest against the deterioration of their living conditions and the dilapidation of the courthouses. In a statement, the auxiliaries of justice said that they “will stop working until Aug. 5.” They called for the payment of their transport allowances for the months of April and May, as well as the compensation due to them for counting the results of parliamentary elections held on May 15. They are also asking for a reassessment of their salaries at the rate of LL8,000 to the dollar, like what was recently granted to judges, and other financial aid, in particular concerning telephone bills and health care.
• Public administration employees in Lebanon have been on strike for a month to demand an improvement in their working and living conditions. On Friday, a judicial source confirmed to L’Orient Today news about judges being informed of a raise on their salaries. According to the raise, their salaries, which are earned in Lebanese lira but calculated in dollars at the official rate of LL1,507 to the dollar, will now be calculated and paid out at LL8,000 to the dollar.
Additional reporting by Mountasser Abdallah