Civil Defense Volunteers Employment Law Approved as Committees Slap Taxes on Seaside Properties to Fund Wage Scale

The parliament approved Wednesday a draft-law on the employment of Civil Defense volunteers, who held a protest as part of a “day of revolt” held by the Syndicate Coordination Committee, as the joint parliamentary committees failed to finalize all the points of the new wage scale bill.

The committees decided to adjourn the session to 3:00 p.m. Thursday.

According to media leaks, the lawmakers agreed to impose fines on the operators of illegal seaside properties which would generate revenues worth 200 billion Lebanese pounds.

The conferees also agreed to slap taxes on financial firms that are members of the Beirut Stock Exchange, a step that would secure another LBP 40 billion aimed at financing the wage scale.

During the meeting, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil suggested raising the tax on bank interests from 5% to 7% and imposing taxes on banks' revenues, which would provide LBP 200 billion. The proposal was approved by the committees.

According to al-Manar television, the joint committees also discussed the issue of green buildings as an additional proposal to fund the new wage scale.

Earlier in the day, the legislature endorsed a draft-law that calls on Civil Defense volunteers to undergo a state exam. But it canceled an article, which gives compensation to retirees, a move that is likely to stir anger among them.

The approval of the draft-law came after the volunteers held a protest at downtown Beirut's Riad Solh Square.

“This demand is the minimum that we should ask for so that we live in dignity with our families,” a spokesman at the protest said.

As the protest went underway at the square, more than 10 volunteers swam in the sea in Beirut's Ramlet al-Bayda area, claiming they were willing to drown if parliament did not approve their employment.

The head of the General Labor Confederation Ghassan Ghosn joined them in their protest at Ramlet al-Bayda.

The protesters have been lately staging sit-ins across Lebanon to pressure lawmakers into meeting their demands.

Demonstrators from the Syndicate Coordination Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, held a similar protest in downtown Beirut.

“We are teaching students democracy, freedom and dignity through our protests,” the head of the private school teachers association, Nehme Mahfoud, said during a speech at the SCC protest.

“We respect the law and we would not cut roads or burn tires,” he said.

But he vowed to end the protest after Speaker Nabih Berri urged the SCC not to take escalatory measures pending a solution to the wage hike by Sunday.

Head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association Hanna Gharib, who had called for a “day of revolution to free the state from squandering and from financial deals,” urged protesters to unify.

"Join hands and we will emerge victorious in this battle," he said in a speech.

The decision to hold a general strike and a protest came after the joint parliamentary committees failed again to resolve the dispute on the Value Added Tax in a proposal aimed at securing the funds for the salary scale that was approved by ex-PM Najib Miqati's cabinet in 2012.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari, who chaired the meeting of the committees on Tuesday, said that several articles of the proposal to find revenues for the wage scale were approved.

But due to differences on other issues, including VAT, they agreed to continue their talks, Makari added.

This prompted the SCC to call for Wednesday's general strike to protest parliament's procrastination.

Also Wednesday, long-time tenants demonstrated at Riad Solh square to protest a law approved by the parliament last week.

The head of the long-time tenants association, Nabil al-Arja, said during the protest that the new law aimed at displacing people.