SCC Refuses to Budge on Wage Scale Demand, Vows Open-Ended Confrontation with Cabinet
Head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association Hanna Gharib said on Friday that the cabinet's delay in referring the new wage scale for public employees to the parliament indicates that it's backing down on the draft law, warning the Syndicate Coordination Committee will enter an open-ended confrontation with the government.
“The cabinet imposed the battle and if it believe that it can break down or create a rift among the SCC then it are delusional,” Gharib said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.
“We have nothing to lose,” he pointed out.
The cabinet convened at the Baabda Palace on Wednesday during a session attended by Central Bank Governor Riyad Salameh who sought to procrastinate the referral of the bill until the government finds the appropriate funding resources to boost the new salaries scale.
Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi previously proposed raising taxes on illegal seaside properties, customer deposits, luxury items, alcohol, fiscal stamps and fees on construction permits to cover the expenses of the salaries boost.
The state treasury will have more than $1.2 billion to cover as there are over 180,000 public sector employees including military personnel.
The Central Bank Governor reflected during Wednesday's session the impact of Safadi's suggestions on inflation and the economy.
Gharib noted that the SCC is keeping all its options open as it will stage open-ended protests, strikes and paralyze public institutions.
“We will decide during the upcoming days the escalatory measures that we will adopt,” he told the daily.
The SCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, is set to hold a meeting at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday at the Teachers Syndicate headquarter's to announce its final decision over the measures that it will undertake.
Sources close to the SCC told An Nahar newspaper that the coalition is fortifying its ranks to confront any “potential breach” or “rift” that some political sides might create within the committee.
Gharib held the Economic Committees, a grouping of the country's businessmen and owners of major firms, responsible for obstructing the administrative reforms and covering up for corruption in the public sector.
The SCC staged a nationwide strike on Thursday to protest the cabinet's failure to refer the controversial new salary scale to the parliament for approval.
Earlier this year, the cabinet approved the new salaries scale for public employees.
The wages increase will be retroactive from July 1, 2012.
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