The General Confederation of Lebanese Workers organized the protest in Beirut’s Riad al-Solh Square, to coincide with a Parliament session underway nearby. Many of the demonstrators were public school teachers.
“We are raising our voices because the government finds the public sector the easiest sector to affect,” head of the confederation Beshara Asmar said in a televised speech.
“I will just say this: at this stage we must have a unified position and we must stand together for our rights,” he said.
Asmar advised reform in other areas that would not directly affect Lebanese citizens.
“There are many steps the government must take … including a host of reforms that do not affect the Lebanese people. The government only has power over the weakest link. But after today, they will see that [public sector] employees are not the weakest link.”
He emphasized that future reform measures should be discussed with “stakeholders, namely the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers Union and unions.”
The state-run National News Agency and Radio Liban notably joined the strike. The NNA announced in a bulletin on its website that it would “only cover news relating to the strikes and sit-ins.”
Director General of the Information Ministry Hassan Falha described state institutions such as the NNA as “fundamental” to the continuation of the Lebanese state.
“We were there during the war, we were there after the war. Here we are now. And we will continue serving the country and the state,” he told reporters at the protest.
Falha called for the strengthening of such institutions. “Now the focus is on media institutions which are suffering. But economic and trade institutions are also suffering. But the solution must not be at the expense of public sector workers. There are hard-working, honest people who want to keep the state going.”
Public schools and some other public institutions in the Akkar governorate committed to the strike, according to the NNA, though workers at the Halba Municipality, Halba’s water establishment and the local Ogero and Electricite du Liban offices did not participate.
Employees at Akkar’s Halba Serail came to their offices but did not work, with the Halba municipal court holding only urgent trials.
In the Amioun Serail in Koura, workers came to their offices but restricted their work to urgent issues, while municipality workers and public school teachers fully committed to the strike.
In Nabatieh, municipality workers and public and private schools teachers committed to the strike.
Public school teachers and municipality workers had called for the strike a day ago after politicians surfaced the idea of cutting wages of state employees to reduce the state budget deficit, which stood at $7.6 billion last year.
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who also leads the Free Patriotic Movement, said last weekend that “if we don’t reduce [salaries], there will be no salaries, no economy and no [Lebanese] pound.”
“State employees must accept that they cannot continue in this manner,” Bassil said, adding that salaries of ministers and MPs could also be cut if necessary.
Bassil’s comments sparked backlash from retired military personnel as well as civil servants – both active and retired – who called for protests across the country to prevent any attempt by the government to reduce their wages or end-of-service benefits.
Retired military and security personnel initiated the protests Tuesday, blocking a number of roads across the country.