SCC Takes Demands to Street to Combat Cabinet's Procrastination on New Wage Scale
The Syndicate Coordination Committee stood firm on Wednesday in holding a strike to protest the cabinet's delay in referring the controversial new wage scale for public employees to the parliament.
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 the upcoming 2013 parliamentary elections until if our demands were not met,” the SCC said.
Protesters accused the cabinet of failing to end “corruption in public institutions, which in turn inflict major damage on the economy.”
Head of the private school teachers association Nehme Mahfoud vowed to “remain in the streets until the new wage scale is referred to the parliament.”
“We can no longer handle any delay in referring the draft law to the parliament... We will hold weekly rallies until the cabinet meets our demands,” Mahdoud pointed out.
For his part, head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association Hanna Gharib said that “it's an open battle with the cabinet.”
Earlier, he said in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that the SCC's “problem is with the government and not with the presidential palace.”
Prime Minister Najib Miqati told As Safir newspaper that the cabinet, which convened at the Baabda Palace on Wednesday, will not tackle the matter.
The government “needs to develop the solution” before referring the draft law to the parliament, Miqati said.
However, Gharib lashed out at the government, reiterating that the coalition rejects an agreement to pay the new salary scale in installments.
He pointed out that the SCC will paralyze public institutions during every cabinet session until it meets the coalition's demands.
The Economic Committees continuously reiterated that they would reject any decision taken by cabinet on the new wage scale, warning that the government's decision to boost the salaries of public employees would "inflict major losses on the public and private sectors."
The SCC had held several strikes to protest the cabinet's stalemate, accusing it of negligence over its failure to meet its demands.
However, the cabinet argues that it's 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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