Partial SCC Strike, Demanding Inclusion of Wage Scale on Agenda

The Syndicate Coordination Committee held a partial strike on Monday in the public institutions and schools demanding that the new wage scale be included on the agenda of the expected legislative session.

The public institutions, private, elementary and intermediate public schools closed on Monday while public high schools did not join the protest.

In a sit-in they held by the Social Affairs Ministry, the SCC said: “Our protests will continue until our demands are met.

“The government has failed so far to solve the problems in the country. They only favor their own interests and priorities,” they said.

“They have paralyzed the cabinet, the only jurisdiction left functioning. They do not care about the people's needs and concerns,” they concluded.

They extended their gratitude to Speaker Nabih Berri for urging politicians to hold a legislative session.

The SCC objections come in parallel with consultations among political blocs aiming to hold a legislative session to approve the pressing issues in the country under the so-called legislation of necessity amid the presidential void.

The bureau is scheduled to convene on Tuesday, while media reports predicted that the legislative session will be held in November.

Speaker Nabih Berri urged lawmakers last week, during a meeting to elect the various committees of the parliament, to agree to hold a legislative session as soon as possible, cautioning them that the World Bank has warned Lebanon that it would drop it from its list of aid receivers for years to come in the absence of the necessary financial legislation.

The SCC committee, which is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, has staged numerous strikes in recent years to demand the adoption of the new wage scale.

The salary hike has been at the center of controversy since it was approved by the government of ex-Prime Minister Najib Miqati in 2012. Several parliamentary blocs had refused to approve the draft-law over fears that it would have devastating effects on the economy.

D.A.

M.T.