SCC on Strike on Jan. 16: Miqati Violating Constitution by Failing to Send Wage Scale to Parliament

The Syndicate Coordination Committee announced on Friday that it will hold a general strike on January 16 to pressure the government to approve the new wage scale and refer it to parliament, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Saturday.

It said in a statement after a meeting: “The gatherers hold Prime Minister Najib Miqati responsible for the employees' resorting to strikes and demonstrations, as well the obstruction of the academic year.”

“The prime minister is committing a constitutional violation by failing to refer a decision approved by cabinet to parliament for discussion,” it stressed.

The strike will include all public administrations and private and public schools and will be accompanied with a sit-in in front of the Grand Serail in downtown Beirut, as well as at various ministries and public administrations.

A main strike will be held on January 23, announced the SCC.

It will kick off in front of the Information Ministry in Beirut's Hamra district and head to the Grand Serail.

The SCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, accuses the cabinet of negligence over its failure to meet its demands.

The government has repeatedly failed in referring the new wage scale to parliament for a 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.

The cabinet approved in 2011 the new salaries scale for public employees.

The wages increase will be retroactive from July 1, 2012.