SCC Promises General Strike Coinciding with Cabinet's Post-Holiday Session
The Syndicate Coordination Committee announced on Friday that it will hold a nation-wide general strike coinciding with the cabinet's first meeting after the holidays.
"Public administrations, ministries, the Grand Serail as well as public and private schools and vocational institutes, they will all participate in the strike,” said the statement released after the SCC's meeting at the headquarters of the Secondary School Education Teachers Association.
"We will also march towards the Grand Serail,” it added.
The SCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, kicked off a protest on Wednesday from the Barbir square in Beirut towards the Grand Serail.
It lashed out at the cabinet's performance, saying that the government's endeavors “will only make the coalition escalate its measures.”
“We will boycott the upcoming 2013 parliamentary elections if our demands were not met,” the SCC said.
The SCC accuses the cabinet of negligence over its failure to meet its demands.
The government failed again on Monday to refer the new wage scale to the parliament for vote and it argued that it is delaying the issue to thoroughly discuss plans to boost the treasury's revenue 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.
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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