BEIRUT: Civil servants and teachers are set to hold a general strike Wednesday after a legislative committee failed to put a proposal to boost public sector salaries up for a vote in Parliament.
“The Union Coordination Committee decided to return once more and take action via a plan that would include escalatory measures starting with a general strike scheduled for Wednesday in the public sector, schools and vocational colleges,” UCC chief Hanna Ghorayeb told reporters at a news conference.
The strike would coincide with a large protest outside Parliament’s Nejmeh Square at 11 a.m., he added.
The parliamentary joint committee Friday failed to agree on how to finance the controversial salary scale increase.
The head of the Budget and Finance Parliamentary Committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, told reporters that the discussions on the subject had been postponed until further notice, claiming that the lawmakers had completed the biggest part of the debate.
He also noted that some MPs had voiced reservations over revenues and means to finance the salary increase which is estimated to cost the government more than $1.6 billion annually.
The committee met to discuss the proposal and aimed to refer it to the secretariat, which in turn would put the draft law up for a vote in the upcoming Parliament sessions next week.
Speaker Nabih Berri has scheduled three consecutive legislative sessions starting April 1 with 70 items on the agenda.
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