Three-day civil servant warning strike

The League of Public Administration Employees has threatened to launch a general strike, citing a "systematic neglect" and a "blatant disregard" of their demands more than a hundred days after the formation of Nawaf Salam's government.

According to the union organization, no work will be accomplished on Wednesday 2, Thursday 3, and Friday 4 July, and this work stoppage will continue progressively until "all of our rights" are obtained, stated a communiqué. "We have observed a continuation of the policy of marginalization and disparagement of the public administration, as if it were a burden to be disposed of rather than the fundamental pillar of the state," the league condemned.

A little over a year after doubling the minimum wage to 18 million Lebanese pounds (or 200 dollars at the exchange rate of 89,500 LL per dollar), the Cabinet approved on Friday a new increase, raising the minimum wage to 28 million pounds (312 dollars, a 56% increase), starting next month. The Ministry of Labor proposed this revision following a meeting in May with the Wages Index Committee – the body responsible for examining wage policies and composed of representatives from unions and economic bodies – after a month-long standoff between Lebanese unions and employers.

The General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL), along with other unions, rejected the proposal. CGTL President Bechara Asmar criticized the plan, accusing it of focusing only on the minimum wage, without reviewing the entire salary scale. He also condemned an increase considered paltry and threatened to resort to street mobilizations to increase pressure. The salary scale concerns the salary of civil servants, decided in the state budget that must be adopted before the end of the year. The minimum wage, meanwhile, concerns the private sector.

"The salary scale law has been confiscated and emptied of its content, under the pretext of a lack of funds, while funds are being diverted to the pockets of a minority who never set foot in public services and are completely ignorant of our suffering," accused the League of Civil Servants, which denounces for example "the revaluation of the minimum wage in the private sector, while the public sector struggles with a salary misery not exceeding 675,000 Lebanese lira."

The league highlighted its demands such as "the immediate and complete integration of all aids and bonuses into the basic salary" and called on all "colleagues to strictly adhere to the warning work stoppage within the offices." "We will not back down, and we will intensify our action until the full acquisition of our rights," they added.