UCC to implement escalatory plan as of Monday

For the fourth consecutive day, the Union Coordination Committee(UCC) went on with its open-ended strike as teachers held a sit-in outside the Ministry of Agriculture in Bir Hassan in protest of the cabinet’s failure to refer the ranks and salaries scale to Parliament. The sit-in was held amid tight security measures as Internal Security Forces blocked nearby roads.
   
In this context, Head of the Secondary Schools Teachers Association Hanna Gharib announced that the UCC will convene on Saturday afternoon to draw an escalatory plan for next week, starting Monday with a sit-in outside the Lebanese Central Bank.    

“Do not only fight for the ranks; fight for a unified nation where the voice of the poor and the workers is heard,” he said. He warned against any attempt to undermine the workers’ acquired rights or increase working hours. “The problem is clearly the high cost of living; we want the scale and an additional 10%,” he said.         

In turn, the Head of the private schools association Nehme Mahfoud said that strikes are legal, adding that all parties are under the law. “Everyone will participate in the sit-in as of Monday morning; the entire country will be paralyzed since all ministries and schools will be closed,” he said.      

Protestors later headed to the office of the Head of the economic bodies Adnan al Kassar.   

Meanwhile, public contract teachers rallied outside the residence of PM Najib Mikati in Tripoli in protest of the failure to grant them the “high cost of living increase” like other employees. Protestors also cut off the road linking Mikati’s house to the city's port.       

Protestors raised banners calling for the ratification of their “legitimate rights”, threatening to take further escalatory steps.     

Teachers are due to hold another sit-in outside the office of Finance Minister Mohammad al-Safadi for the same purpose.
In the same context, Beirut Municipality’s employees and contract workers held a sit-in outside the Municipality’s building on Friday morning calling for the ratification of the ranks and salaries scale.     

On behalf of protestors, the head of the Municipal Laborers Syndicates Union, Reda Fadel voiced support and solidarity with the Union Coordination Committee in its movements to call for the rights of workers.     

Fadel warned against the marginalization of the municipality’s employees and contract workers when the scale is ratified, stressing that protests and strikes will continue until all demands are met.