Protesters in Nabatieh stage a sit-in at an NSSF office on June 6, 2023. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Workers at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) in Nabatieh staged a sit-in Tuesday in front of the local NSSF office to demand improved living conditions amid the deepening economic crisis, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The head of the office, Hussein Sweidan, stated during the protest that their demands “have become known to everyone,” and noted that "there are some members of the Fund’s Board of Directors who refuse to sign and approve our demands despite the approval of the Council of Ministers, and they obstruct the decrees."
Sweidan said that the salaries of the NSSF’s employees should be raised to cover hospitalization and medical coverage in order “to ease the burdens of the living and economic crisis.”
NSSF employees also staged several sit-ins in front of various other offices across Lebanon Monday to demand improved living conditions.
Protests by civil servants across Lebanon and across various sectors have become frequent in recent years as the Lebanese lira has lost more than 90 percent of its value against the dollar, plunging more than three-quarters of the Lebanese population below the poverty line. Public employees still receive their salaries in lira.
Meanwhile, without a president or fully empowered cabinet, Lebanese authorities are still stalling the reforms needed to stem the country's economic and financial collapse and receive a potential International Monetary Fund bailout.