REPORT: UCC stages general strike, threatens to escalate and boycott official exams

Member of the Union Coordinating Committee Hanna Gharib held the deputies responsible for any escalation across the Lebanese regions, which may lead to an open-ended strike and the boycott of official exams should the ranks and salaries series fail to be approved.

During the UCC’s sit-in staged in Riad al-Solh Square, Gharib said that “the ball is now in the lawmakers' court, as the Lebanese await the results of their discourse until Friday.”

For his part, the head of the Private Schools Teachers Association Nehme Mahfoud declared that a meeting will be held on Friday in order to evaluate the outcome of the meeting of the joint committees and to decide the next measures.

Earlier in the day, the Union Coordinating Committee staged a general strike that coincides with a central sit-in outside the Parliament to denounce the procrastination in passing the series of ranks and salaries for public sector employees.

This as the volunteers of the Civil Defense participated in the sit-in, due to the elimination of their employment draft law.

The UCC had issued a statement whereby it called on all public administrations, ministries, public and private schools, as well as employees at the Lebanese University to participate in the strike.

Meanwhile, the contract workers of the Electricité du Liban staged a symbolic sit-in at the company's premises in Cornishe al-Naher and at the other branches across the country.

Former Prime Minister Najib Miqati's cabinet endorsed in 2012 a new salary scale for public employees ending a long dispute that had triggered several sit-ins and strikes held by the UCC.

President Michel Suleiman signed the decree mid-June 2013 and it was referred to the joint parliamentary committees for further examination.


To watch Foutoun Raad's report, please click on the VIDEO above