BEIRUT: The endorsement of a new salary scale would bring about economic and social havoc on Lebanon, including 100,000 job losses, the head of Lebanon’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Mohamed Choucair warned Tuesday.
“If passed, the bill will result in a social catastrophe, because it would lead to the existence of two different minimum wage scales, one for the public sector and another, which is lower, for the private sector,” Choucair said in comments published by Arab Economic News magazine.
He argued that under the proposed bill, the minimum wage for public sector employees would rise to LL872,000, whereas the corresponding wage in the private sector is fixed at LL675,000.
“Lebanon would then set a most dangerous precedent of adopting two different scales for minimum pay,” Choucair said, warning that least 100,000 workers in the private sector would be dismissed, as the private enterprises would be obligated to match the wage hike.
“The economic situation in the country is hard on both employees and employers,” Choucair said, calling for a compromise solution to enable the economy to overcome existing economic and political instability.
Choucair complained about the economic strain caused by the influx of scores of Syrian refugees and the consequent establishment of unlicensed factories posing serious competition for Lebanese industries and jeopardizing their existence.
The entrepreneur called on the government to restrict the employment of Syrian laborers by enacting laws limiting employment of non-Lebanese to 10 percent of the workforce.
Choucair urged Lebanese officials to “salvage what is left of the national industry,” noting that Lebanon’s exports dropped by 17.8 percent in the first half of the year, the worst in 15 years.
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