SCC Declares July 1-2 Strike at All State Institutions, Ministries

The Syndicate Coordination Committee on Monday announced a general strike at all state institutions and ministries on July 1 and July 2, as part of its protests that are aimed at pressing for the approval of the controversial new wage scale.

“We believe that we completed everything that was required of us in the official (school) exams (that kicked off on June 13) and we ask officials to treat us in a similar manner and to devise a plan regarding the new wage scale,” Nehme Mahfoud, head of the Private School Teachers Syndicate, announced after an SCC meeting.

"We wanted to make escalatory steps this week but we took the security situation in the country and its repercussions into account, so we postponed the protests to next week," Mahfoud noted.

He said that the issue of the wage scale must be resolved in a manner that "preserves the teachers' rights."

"We have given everything we have. We staged the exams and we expect them to hold a legislative session to resolve the issue," added Mahfoud.

He declared that all state institutions and ministries will be closed during a general strike that will be observed on July 1 and July 2, adding that sit-ins will be held on July 3 in all provinces.

A settlement was reached last week between the SCC and Education Minister Elias Bou Saab after several hours of strenuous negotiations, which secured holding the official exams after a one-day postponement.

The agreement stipulated that teachers would monitor the exams but it did not include any accord over the correction of exam papers as the minister gave teachers the right to boycott this task if the new wage scale was not adopted.

The SCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, had voiced on Wednesday its rejection of a raise in the VAT, saying it will impede the spending of the poor and people of limited income.

It demanded that the wage scale not be implemented at the expense of the poor.

The parliament once again failed on Thursday in approving the controversial pay hike for the public sector as the SCC warned officials not to politicize the issue.

March 14 alliance's Christian MPs and the Mustaqbal bloc have been boycotting parliamentary sessions aimed at discussing the draft-law.

Parliamentary blocs have expressed their support for the employees' rights but have warned that Lebanon's ailing economy would suffer if the total funding was not reduced from LL2.8 trillion ($1.9 billion) to LL1.8 trillion ($1.2 billion).

They have also disagreed on how to raise taxes to fund the scale over fears of inflation and its affect on the poor.

Y.R.

S.D.B.