The headquarters of the Beirut municipality (right), in the center of the Lebanese capital. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP archives)
Municipal council workers have called a "general warning strike" in municipalities across Lebanon on Monday, in a bid to push the government to raise their salaries in a crisis-riddled country.
Work will be suspended in all municipalities on Monday and resume on Tuesday, the employees announced in a statement.
"If our demands are not taken into consideration, we will move towards an open strike," they warned.
According to the text, a sit-in will be held on Monday at 10 a.m. in front of the municipalities to put pressure on the outgoing cabinet.
A cabinet meeting was due to approve a pay rise for certain civil servants on Friday, including those in the Ministry of Finance, the Prime Minister's Office, the Office of the President, the Central Inspectorate and the Court of Auditors.
The exclusion of other public sector employees from this decision provoked a massive reaction, including a strike by administrative civil servants and large-scale protests by retired army personnel.
Faced with this tension, the cabinet meeting was canceled, without explanation.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour.