GLC Regrets Wage Deal, Vows to Ensure its Implementation this Month

General Labor Confederation chief Ghassan Ghosn expressed regret on Wednesday that the government failed to raise the wages of workers earning more than LL1.8 million.

In remarks to local radio stations, Ghosn said: “We were asking for a boost in all wages, particularly for those earning more than LL1.8 million.”

On Tuesday, the cabinet increased the minimum wage to LL700,000 from LL500,000. It also raised by LL200,000 the wages of workers earning less than LL1 million. As for those who earn between LL1 million and LL1.8 million, they would get a LL300,000 raise.

But the government did not boost the wage of workers who earn more than LL1.8 million.

The GLC was planning to hold a nationwide strike on Wednesday but it suspended its move “for the sake of civil peace” after a deal was reached in the cabinet. It was initially calling for more than doubling the minimum wage to LL1,250,000.

Despite the government’s approval of the increase in salaries, several ministers clashed over the deal which the representatives of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun saw as a “tranquilizer” not aimed at finding a radical solution to the wage dispute.

“The government was on the verge of collapse over the big dispute on the demands of labor unions,” Ghosn said.

The GLC will follow up the government decision to ensure that it would be implemented this month, he added.