Municipality employees to go on two-day nationwide strike

BEIRUT — The Union of Municipal Employees in Lebanon and its Federations called for a "general warning strike" in municipalities across Lebanon starting Thursday to demand "higher wages," according to a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Wednesday.

"This strike aims to urge the government to address the longstanding issues of imbalance and inequality faced by over 25,000 employees in the sector, including permanent, temporary, contracted and casual workers," the statement explained.

Work will be suspended within all municipal centers during this two-day action, with employees warning that if their demands are not met, they may "escalate to an open-ended strike."

The Union has outlined specific demands, including the "approval of a new salary scale to reflect inflation, the enforcement of payments for all approved salaries and benefits by municipal councils, the inclusion of municipal employees in social security or the State Employees Cooperative, the establishment of a pension system law for municipal employees, adjustment of family allowances, immediate payment of municipal dues and updating municipal fees to match inflation."

Public sector employees have been suffering from deteriorating living conditions as the Lebanese lira lost more than 90 percent of its value amid high inflation rates.