MP Ibrahim Kanaan declared that the joint parliamentary committees stressed the need to reach equality between the public and the private sectors concerning legislation, noting that the situation of the education sector is different from that of others.
In this regard, Kanaan said that no one accepts that teachers be denied their rights regarding the ranks, explaining that the committees’ main concern is to ease the burden of the schools’ tuition fees imposed on the parents.
Following the meeting of the joint parliamentary committees held at the Parliament, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab stated that the session was dedicated to discuss one item from the pay scale, yet agreement has not been reached, adding that “work over this issue has remains at a standstill.”
The joint parliamentary committees had convened earlier to discuss the pay scale draft law after having it referred by Speaker Nabih Berri for further examination, but the session was postponed after several MPs left the parliament, causing lack of quorum.
On October 1st, Lebanon's parliament failed to tackle the wage hike draft law after Speaker Berri resent the bill to the joint parliamentary committees for discussion over differences on the raise.
Speaker Berri had earlier warned he would withdraw the draft law from the parliamentary session's agenda if certain parties continued to oppose the bill. The Union Coordinating Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, has been on a continuous sit-in calling on the authorities to pass the pay scale, which stipulates a wage hike.
The decision to revive movements came as a result of the failure of the Joint Parliamentary Committees to resolve the dispute on the Value Added Tax in a proposal aimed at securing the funds for the salary scale that was approved by former Prime Minister Najib Mikati's cabinet.
Former PM Mikati's cabinet endorsed the new salary scale for public employees in 2012, ending a long dispute that had triggered several sit-ins and strikes held by the UCC.
Former President Michel Sleiman signed the decree mid-June 2013 and it was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committees for further examination, however the law was never passed to parliament. For more details, watch Hoda Chedid's full report in the VIDEO above