Public sector employees will strike Thursday and Friday

BEIRUT — The Assembly of Civil Servants said Wednesday in a statement that public sector employees in Lebanon will strike only on Thursday and Friday this week, pending a meeting that will determine the next steps for this movement in the coming weeks.

The strike by civil servants began in early July, after the government approved a series of salary increases for several categories of senior officials — raises that several public sector unions called "contemptuous," as the salaries of public employees still have not been returned to their pre-2019-crisis levels, when the Lebanese pound was severely devalued.

However, the strike was suspended on July 16 pending negotiations with the government.

The civil servants say they decided to strike only two days this week, "so as to paralyze the administration only when necessary." This position is part of a willingness to give authorities "an opportunity to find quick solutions that would reduce the suffering of civil servants, even though the government has made no serious move to bring justice to public sector employees."

The issue of public sector pay is one of the thorniest challenges facing the government of Nawaf Salam, formed last February. Although salaries have not been adjusted enough to fully offset the collapse of the pound, many believe the Lebanese civil administration has too many employees, lacks efficiency and is too costly.

Before the crisis, public sector wages made up a third of the state budget, when it was around $15 billion. The exact number of civil servants in the public administration is not precisely known, but some sources estimate it at between 200,000 and 300,000 people, including the armed forces.