REPORT: Economic Committees hold strike to protest 5 month...

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The Union Coordinating Committee (UCC) staged a sit-in on Wednesday outside the Education Ministry's building with the Head of the Union Hanna Gharib stressing the need to maintain national unity and civil peace, calling for a government that meets the aspirations of the Lebanese people.

"Our movement and the validation of the series of ranks and salaries are part of a defense mechanism to safeguard national unity. Whomever opposes the pay scale sows division and sedition among the people," Gharib said in reference to the Economic Committees.

In this regard, UCC's head Gharib called on the students' families not to pay up increases in tuition fees since "the schools' administrations did not pay wage increases for the teachers".

On another note, Gharib commented on the statement of Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Rai who said the adoption of pay scale places further pressure on family units, pointing out that "Cardinal Rai will not accept the teachers' current salaries that remain scarcely low".

Head of UCC Gharib also gave caretaker Finance Minister Mohamad Safadi a two-week deadline to reimburse the committee's due health care fees.

The UCC also staged a series of movements in several cities, including Baalbek and Tripoli where the supporters staged sit-ins in the presence of official figures, private and public sectors’ employees and teachers.

The protesters were calling on the authorities to form a new cabinet as soon as possible in order to settle the pending issues and grant the workers and the employees their lawful rights.

In this context, the head of private school teachers association Nehme Mahfoud stressed that “Wednesday’s movements are a call on the legislative authorities to accelerate the formation of the cabinet,” noting that the Lebanese people can no longer bear the political void.

The UCC alongside the private and public schools association had launched an open ended strike on February 19th, 2013 after making repeated called on then Prime Minister Najib Mikati to validate the new salary scale and consequently refer it to Parliament for ratification. Cabinet referred the wage scale on Thursday 21st of March, 2013.

The union leader Hanna Gharib, however insists that no compromise on their demands will be accepted, stating that the salary hike should be paid in one go using alternative resources, in contrast to the recommendations of the Economic Committees.

Economic Committees:

Economic Committees staged a strike today to protest the governmental vacuum "caused by the discrepancies among the Lebanese political parties over the new administrative line-up".

The commercial and industrial institutions as well as banks closed their doors on Wednesday upon the call of the economic bodies.

Commercial centers also joined in the protest in the southern city of Sidon, while trade came to a complete standstill in the regions of Chouf, al-Jabal and Aley.

This as the head of the Economic Committees Adnan al-Kassar said "our movement does not aim at disrupting the Lebanese state's institutions," hoping their call will be heeded.

In this regard, al-Kassar noted that "their successful sit-in today proves they are right", adding that two escalatory steps will be taken should the Lebanese parties fail to form a new government.

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