Entrance of Rafik Hariri Governmental Hospital in Beirut . (Credit: NNA)
The employees' committee of Rafik Hariri Governmental Hospital in Beirut announced Saturday that it had ended a strike that lasted more than a month, launched in protest against delays in salary and allowance payments that have accumulated for over a year.
"Now that we have received our December salary and 40% of our January salary, and in order to ensure the continuity of services at the hospital while considering the hardships faced by patients in other [private and fee-paying] hospitals, the committee announces that employees are suspending the strike and will fully reopen all hospital services starting Monday, Feb. 3, 2025," the statement said.
However, the staff emphasized that they would "continue to monitor the hospital’s financial and administrative matters with the president of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers [CGTL], Beshara Asmar, who is actively working to support the employees." Several positions remain vacant at the hospital.
Hariri Hospital employees had been on strike since December, staging multiple sit-ins to demand their overdue payments.
In their statement on Saturday, they warned against "any punitive measures by the current administration, including retaliatory internal appointments or unjustified warnings against strikers, which could lead to renewed strikes in the future."
