SCC holds in Lebanon ahead of Wednesday’s demonstration

The Syndicate Coordination Committee held sit-ins on Tuesday near several ministries and state institutions across Lebanon to protest the cabinet’s failure to approve the new wages scale. “The cabinet wants us to suspend our protests without approving the new wages scale for public employees… But we will not back down,” head of Association of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Hanna Gharib told LBC. The SCC, which is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, will also kick off a demonstration on Wednesday from Beirut’s Barbir region and head to the Grand Serail in downtown Beirut. Gharib called on all the public sector employees to heavily participate Wednesday’s demonstration, stressing that the teachers are keen to safeguard the students’ rights. “We urge the students to join our demonstrations,” he added. Earlier on Tuesday, the SCC lashed out at the ministerial committee tasked with studying the new wages scale for the public sector, which accused the SCC of violating article 15 of the Labor law. Article 15 of the Labor law prevents public employees from striking and intentionally halting the performance of their public services. The committee recently boycotted the correction of official exams over the government’s failure to include the new salaries scale in the state budget. “Prime Minister Najib Miqati is the one who took the students as hostages when he failed to keep his promises,” head of the private schools teachers association Nehme Mahfoud told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5). He noted that the constitution guaranteed the workers the right to hold protests. Labor Minister Salim Jreissati told VDL (100.5) that 80 percent of the SCC’s demands have been met. He criticized the abstention of the teachers from correcting the official exams, saying this would harm the students.  On Monday, President Michel Suleiman called on the public sector workers to suspend their strike and give the cabinet the chance to resolve the issue.