Bakeries Threaten to Cut off Supply of Bread Starting Wednesday
The owners of bakeries vowed to launch an open-ended strike on Wednesday despite a meeting set by Caretaker Economy Minister Mohammed Safadi for Monday to find a solution to their demands.
Head of the Bakeries Association Kazem Ibrahim told An Nahar daily in remarks published Thursday that the strike will be launched next Wednesday and will not reach a halt until the authorities meet the demands of the bakers.
“I doubt that it (the meeting) would be held because he (Safadi) is in Ukraine,” Ibrahim said.
While Safadi has promised to increase subsidies to cover the soaring price of fuel and the total cost of bread production, Ibrahim said that bakeries throughout Lebanon are on the verge of bankruptcy and are all willing to cut off the supply of bread.
An Nahar quoted the head of the association as saying that Safadi should put himself in the bakers’ shoe. “Would he accept to suffer from losses?” Ibrahim wondered in his statement to the daily.
Meanwhile, the General Labor Confederation (GLC) blamed both the Lebanese government and bakers for the “bread crisis.”
The GLC has already warned that the increase in the price of fuel would lead to a crisis, GLC head Ghassan Ghosn said. He hoped that Monday’s meeting would save Lebanese from “fighting” over a loaf of bread.
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