SCC Calls Off Wed-Thurs Strike, Gives Govt. One-Week Deadline
The Syndicate Coordination Committee on Monday decided to call off a strike scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, but gave the government a one-week deadline to refer the new wage scale to parliament.
After an emergency meeting at the headquarters of the Teachers Union in Badaro, the Committee said it discussed “the latest security and political developments in the country in the wake of the assassination of martyr Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, his bodyguard Chief Warrant Officer Ahmed Suhyouni and Georgette Sarkisian, in addition to the scores of innocent civilians who were wounded and the repercussions on the general situations in the country.”
The SCC noted that “as government resumes its meetings, there is a need to put the new wage scale on its agenda ahead of referring it to parliament, as nothing justifies any further delay in this regard.”
“Taking into consideration the security and political developments in the country, and to allow the government to refer the new wage scale as an urgent bill to parliament during the first cabinet session that will be held after the Oct. 31 session … the SCC has decided to postpone its strike scheduled for Oct. 31- Nov. 1 until after the cabinet session that will be held on Nov. 7,” the SCC said in a statement.
“If the new wage scale is not referred to parliament as an urgent bill after these two sessions, escalatory steps will be taken, the first of which will be staging a general strike on November 8 at all private and public elementary and secondary schools, technical and vocational institutes, public administrations and ministries,” the SCC warned.
The cabinet will convene on Wednesday but the new wage scale is not on its agenda.
On October 2, the SCC called for a general strike and demonstrations to be staged on October 10 over what it called “the government's procrastination” and “the onslaught of the Economic Committees,” stressing that it will not stand idly by as the government delays referring the new wage scale to parliament.
On September 6, the cabinet approved the new wage scale with a hike in taxes on real estate and banking transactions, without reaching a final agreement on funding sources.
The Economic Committees, a grouping of the country's businessmen and owners of major firms, on September 6 said they would reject any decision taken by cabinet on the new wage scale, warning that the government's plan would "inflict major losses on the public and private sectors."
The SCC has warned that “from now on, the protests will not be limited to teachers and employees, but will also include their families and children as well as the students and their parents, in addition to the children and families of the security forces and all the syndical, social and popular committees that support the Committee's efforts.”
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