Mahfoud Says SCC to Resume Strike if Agreement Not Implemented
Head of the private schools teachers association Nehme Mahfoud reiterated threats on Monday that the Syndicate Coordination Committee will resume the strike if the cabinet failed to implement an agreement on the new salaries scale for the public sector.
Prime Minister Najib “Miqati stressed that the deal is ongoing, but if the cabinet failed to implement it we will hold a meeting and set an agenda to protest against the action,” Mahfoud said in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).
He pointed out that the cabinet is set to discuss in the session scheduled to be held on September 5 Minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s proposal on the new wages scale, which contradicts the agreement between the ministerial committee tasked with studying the new scale for the public sector and Miqati.
Later VDL reported that Miqati discussed with al-Safadi the matter at the Grande Serail.
al-Safadi left the meeting without making any statement.
The SCC, coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, recently staged a nation-wide protest and decided to boycott the correction of official exams over the government’s failure to include the new salaries scale in the state budget.
However, teachers resumed the correction of the official exams for grades 13 and 9 in light of the cabinet’s approval to issue the new salaries scale for the public sector by the end of August.
The government argues that any new increase on wages would affect the state’s treasury, saying it is searching for new resources to finance the boost in salaries.
The cabinet agreed to increase the salaries of the teachers after a wage raise was granted to the private sector in January.
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