SCC Holds Sit-in, Calls for 'Social Alliance' on Wage Scale

More than a dozen of public sectors employees held a sit-in near the Value Added Tax building in Beirut on Tuesday, reiterating their demand for the approval of the controversial wage hike.

Several Syndicate Coordination Committee activists spoke at the protest, urging the parliament to agree on the salary raise.

Head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association Hanna Gharib said that “the issue is no longer about the wage scale. It goes beyond that.”

“It's a scandal. There is a plan to liquidate what remains of social services,” he said.

Gharib urged the SCC, which is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, to form a “social alliance” to give back the public sector teachers and employees their rights.

He also called for unity during an SCC-organized protest scheduled to take place on Thursday.

Speaker Nabih Berri has decided to keep legislative sessions on the wage scale open-ended after lawmakers failed to approve the raise.

Parliamentary blocs have expressed their support for the employees' rights but have warned that Lebanon's ailing economy would suffer if the total funding was not reduced from LL2.8 trillion ($1.9 billion) to LL1.8 trillion ($1.2 billion).

They have also disagreed on how to raise taxes to fund the scale over fears of inflation and its affect on the poor.

Their differences have been exacerbated by the boycott of the March 14 alliance's MPs of the sessions aimed at discussing the draft-law under the excuse that parliament should not legislate in the absence of a president.

G.K.

M.T.