SCC Protesters Warn Miqati that February will be 'Fateful' over Delay in Salary Boost

Teachers and public sector employees held a nationwide strike on Wednesday and warned the government that they would take “fateful” measures in February if it continued to procrastinate in referring the new wages scale to parliament for approval.

The strike, which was called for by the Syndicate Coordination Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, was culminated by a march from the Information Ministry building in Beirut's Hamra thoroughfare all the way to the Grand Serail in the city center.

Head of the private schools teachers association Nehme Mahfoud told the crowd near the Prime Minister’s office that the protesters were making their voices heard and that Miqati should hear them.

“The cabinet, which is the highest executive authority has taken the decision on the new wages scale,” he said. “You can't keep it in the drawers,” he added, addressing Miqati.

“The cabinet can't be unfair. It would collapse if it is not just with its people,” he told the cheering crowd. “We want answers to our comments on the first week of February or else the public sector would be paralyzed.”

“We want action by the different parties forming the cabinet through the referral of the wages scale to the parliament,” he said.

Mahfoud accused the politicians of “wanting to kill” the public sector employees from hunger “so that they could embezzle the money” that should be granted to them instead.

“The beginning of February would be fateful,” he warned.

The head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association, Hanna Gharib, accused the government of corruption and embezzlement and said it has been reiterating its promises to implement the wages boost for the past 18 months.

“Our patience is running out,” he told the demonstrators. “The government is responsible for every day of strike we hold.”

Gharib slammed “the policy of the government of steering itself clear of its obligations” in providing a good livelihood to the citizen.

He hoped that President Michel Suleiman would interfere to refer the wages scale to parliament in accordance with a deal reached with Miqati and a ministerial committee.

The demonstration included more speeches by several officials from labor associations who threatened an open-ended strike in the beginning of February if the government continued to ignore its demands.

The cabinet has procrastinated in finding sources to fund the scale that was approved last year, leading to growing differences with the SCC, which has been accusing it of negligence.

However, the government argues that it is delaying the decision on the funding in an attempt to thoroughly discuss plans to boost the treasury's revenue to cover the expenses of the salaries boost.

The state treasury will have more than $1.2 billion to cover over the presence of 180,000 public sector employees including military personnel.