BEIRUT: Employees at Lebanon’s state-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital escalated their strike Monday, blocking the entrance to the hospital’s emergency room and refusing to admit any new patients.
The employees of Beirut’s main public hospital are protesting the delay in receiving their salaries for the month of January and what they perceive as a lack of employment benefits.
A statement by the employees’ committee said “the sit-in is aimed at achieving all our demands without exception, starting with the payment of salaries which we have not cashed until now, and until prejudice against us end.”
The protesters also warned that they were willing to take to the streets to push for their demands, stressing that “we are ready to take any move in order to secure the livelihood of our children.”
The employee’s strike that began last week coincided with the resignation of Faysal Shatila, the former chief of the hospital’s board.
Health Minister Abu Faour announced last Wednesday that he accepted Shatila’s resignation, saying it allowed for the implementation of “rescue plan” to save the hospital.
Abu Faour had previously announced a plan of reforms in response to the hospital's financial deficit, which had caused a shortage in equipment and tools.
Shatila, on the other hand, said he resigned because this same rescue plan was never carried out by the government.
The hospital’s staff remained on strike despite Shatila's resignation, saying they would not go back to work unless officials promised to add a discussion of the hospital's current crisis to the Cabinet’s agenda.
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