Economic Committees Laud Salary Boost, Say Bickering with Nahhas is Behind Them
The Economic Committees hoped on Thursday that Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas would turn the page of the bickering between him and the different production parties after the cabinet’s approval of a long awaited wage hike.
The head of the Chamber of Commerce, Mohammed Shuqair, who is part of the Committees, told An Nahar daily that the wage hike file “is now behind us.”
Nahhas should “turn the page of the differences of opinion and serve the workers and the economy,” he said.
The different parties in the government, the General Labor Confederation and the Economic Committees had been bickering for months on a salary boost.
But the cabinet on Wednesday approved to increase the minimum salary to LL675,000. It also kept the transportation allowance, which was the main point of contention between the production parties and Nahhas, unchanged until parliament approves a new draft law on it.
Another member of the Economic Committees, the head of the Beirut Merchants Association Nicolas Shammas, told As Safir newspaper that the government’s approval of the wage hike was a victory for an agreement reached in December between them and the GLC to set the minimum wage at LL675,000.
“The economic-social logic overcame political considerations,” he said.
But he stressed that the Committees have turned the page of the past and forgot about the strained ties with the labor ministry, which he said is an “essential partner in the formulation of a new social contract in Lebanon.”
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