BEIRUT: Workers went on strike Wednesday in solidarity with the Union Coordination Committee’s demand for a wage hike and to warn the state against increasing taxes.
“We are striking because the state makes promises it does not commit to; the state has no prestige,” the head of the General Labor Confederation Ghassan Ghosn told The Daily Star.
“Instead of finding solutions to the waste in the Treasury, the state wants to impose more taxes on citizens who already have enough financial burdens,” he said.
The National Social Security Fund, the Electricite Du Liban, Beirut’s port, Lebanon’s telephone land-line provider Ogero all closed their offices, bringing Lebanon’s public services to stalemate.
The strike also affected the Regie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombacs, the company responsible for manufacturing, importing and exporting tobacco products, as well as the water authority.
The Air Transport Association is also set to stop work from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Workers are set to take down the streets and hold a sit in Riad al-Solh.
Ghosn said all offices were committed to the strike.
Lawmakers have been unable to pass the pay hike draft bill due to severe disagreements over how it should be financed, with some suggesting that Value Added Tax be raised and others calling for taxes on coastal properties.
Ghosn said that the GLC has its own demands, including improving conditions for retired workers through a comprehensive plan by the NSSF.
“However, the priority remains for now giving the public sector employees their rights,” he said.
The civil servants held a massive protest Tuesday to pressure lawmakers to endorse the salary scale draft law, with most private schools committing to the strike.
Source: The Daily Star