Cabinet, SCC Exert Efforts to Reach Agreement to Avoid Large-scale Crisis
The thorny issue of the new wages scale for Syndicate Coordination Committee is heading towards settlement with the cabinet as the ministerial committee tasked with studying the demands of the public sector is expected to meet on Tuesday.
According to An Nahar newspaper published on Friday, the cabinet will approve the new salaries scale for all the public sector during its session next Thursday at the Grand Serail gradually in order to avoid inflation.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati previously suggested to separate the demands of the teachers and the SCC, which angered the syndicate that accused the cabinet of “trying to divide the syndicate’s unity in the country.”
Head of the private schools teachers association Nehme Mahfoud told the daily that the SCC is seeking to resolve the issue and will not shut the door of negotiations.
“The cabinet is held responsible for the current situation and the PM has continuously pledged to adopt the agreement (with the SCC) then backed down,” Mahfoud stressed.
For his part, head of Association of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Hanna Gharib revealed that several ministers are not aware of the deal held with the ministerial committee.
The ministerial committee includes 11 ministers.
On Thursday, a delegation from the SCC held a meeting with Environment Minister Nazem al-Khoury to brief him about the agreement with the premier.
“The delegation asked for our help to resolve the current problem under the auspices of President” Michel Suleiman, Khoury told As Safir newspaper.
He advised the delegation not to further escalate the measures and block dialogue with the government as “it will be met with more escalation by the cabinet.”
Gharib told the daily that the goal behind the meeting is to brief the minister about the agreement with the premier.
He revealed that the SCC will send delegations for meetings with several other ministers to inform them about the deal and their demands.
Economy and Trade Minister Nicolas Nahhas told As Safir “we will find a way out of the crisis.”
Miqati reiterated via twitter on Thursday ahead of his visit to London to participate in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, that it is “illogical that the cabinet is demanded to resolve a crisis that has been accumulating for several years.”
He criticized the protests held by the SCC saying: “Amid these critical conditions we refuse to yield to demands that are threatening the social and financial stability and to exhaust the state’s treasury with additional burdens.”
The SCC, which is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, recently boycotted the correction of official exams for grades 9 and 12 over the government’s failure to include the new salaries scale in the state budget.
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