Cabinet refers pay scale to parliament as UCC suspends strike

                                                                                                    
The cabinet referred on Thursday the ranks and salaries series to the parliament for vote after weeks of nationwide sit ins and demonstrations staged by the Union Coordinating Committee.                

Following the cabinet’s long session, Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour announced the news to reporters as the UCC announced that it has suspended its open-ended strike, while it criticized the taxes’ increase.                 

Abou Faour added that the Amal Movement and Hezbollah ministers have voiced reservation over the 10% decrease that has affected it.                   

The Social Affairs minister read the articles related to the financing of the new pay scale which includes raising the weekly working hours to 35, with a 45 hour limit, reducing the judicial holiday during the month of August, and decreasing the teaching hours of professors as of the age of 58, amongst other amendments.                  

In this context, the cabinet has also decided to extend the working hours of public sector employees to 4:00 pm.               

The cabinet convened in Baabda Palace on Thursday afternoon, amid nation-wide strikes staged by the Union Coordinating Committee.                 

Minister of Finance Mohammad Safadi reportedly expressed worry in regards to the weight that the wage scale may entail on the Lebanese economy.                       

As for the Education Minister Hassan Diab, he asserted that the ranks and salaries series must be passed "to ensure the timeliness of the official state exams."                                  

For his part, President Suleiman said that the most important gift on Mother's Day would be passing the ranks and salaries series along with the parliamentary elections law and state budget so that "mothers can be reassured about the future of their children".                                  

On the second item, no clear results were achieved, however Minister of Agriculture Hussein Hajj Hassan said earlier that his bloc will not vote on the formation of Elections Supervisory Committee nor on the extension of Major General Ashraf Rifi's mandate. The same stance was voiced by Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil voiced from the sidelines of the cabinet session.                                     

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel reiterated Hajj Hassan's claims in regards to discussions pertaining to the formation of the Elections Supervisory Committee, confirming that they will be held today. However he did not comment on the probability of whether the vote would pass or not.           
                                
For his part, Environment Minister Nazem Khoury reiterated his support for the formation of the Elections Supervisory Committee.                             

The UCC staged a nationwide protest on Thursday to urge the cabinet to refer the new pay scale to the parliament amid heavy security deployment.                                  

The cabinet had approved the wage scale last year but did not find since sources to fund it, leading to growing differences with the UCC.