Joint committee between government, public sector representatives established

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam received a delegation on Friday from the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL) and the League of Public Administration Employees, who went on strike last week and are demanding improved working conditions and compensation.

"We agreed with Salam to form a joint committee between the League and the presidency of the Parliament, whose aim is to study the legitimate demands [of civil servants] and achieve concrete results," said Tarek Younis, secretary-general of the League of Public Administration Employees.

Speaking in turn, CGTL President Bechara al-Asmar said the delegation agreed with Salam on "the need to include representatives of the public sector on the committee chaired by the deputy prime minister, who is responsible for following up on public sector matters."

"We discussed [with Salam] the economic and security distress the country is experiencing, expressing hope that an atmosphere of stability will set in, so that international aid can help revive the country effectively," al-Asmar also said.

"The assessment was comprehensive and realistic given the seriousness of the situation," he added, specifying that he discussed with the prime minister "the situation of the public sector in all its components: military personnel, retirees, employees of public institutions, independent agencies and contract workers."

At the beginning of July, civil servants from various administrations staged a general strike, which was relatively well observed across Lebanon. This discontent among representatives of the public sector followed the signing of a decree by Parliament at the end of June, which approved a series of salary increases for a group of senior officials ranging from 626.5 million Lebanese pounds ($7,000) to 805.5 million LL ($9,000) per month.