Price Index Committee Fails to Resolve Wage Hike Dispute as Nahhas Set to Propose his Plan at Cabinet
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The price index committee meeting failed on Thursday to reach an agreement over the wage hike.
Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas announced that he will propose his plan in cabinet “because the government is responsible for implementing the law. Anything other than that does not concern us.”
The meeting included Nahhas, the General Labor Confederation, Economic Committees, and Syndical Coordination Committee.
Nahhas added after the meeting: “We will perform our duties and refer this issue to cabinet at the appropriate time.”
“It is responsible for determining the brackets, cost of living, and how the wage hike can be applied,” he explained.
He denied that he had proposed a transportation allowance and other benefits.
Informed sources revealed that Nahhas’ fourth wage hike proposal includes a hundred percent wage increase to workers whose income ranges between LL500,000 and 1,000,000 and a 25 percent increase to those who earn over LL 1 million.
Nahhas revealed that he had requested before the gatherers at Thursday’s price index meeting to present a legal mechanism that can implement their proposals.
The GLC demanded that minimum wage be raised to LL 1,250,000, while the Economic Committees renewed their commitment to the agreement that was reached at the Baabda Palace.
The agreement, which was sponsored by Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Baabda Palace, set the minimum wage at LL675,000 – a sum that excludes the transportation allowance.
Nahhas insists on setting the minimum wage at LL800,000 including the transportation allowance, which is also approved by the Syndical Coordination Committee.
“We are only concerned with raising the minimum wage and the increase in brackets,” stressed the labor minister.
Meanwhile, the head of the Beirut Merchant Association Nicolas Shammas said after price index committee meeting: “We are counting on the government and parliament to devise a method to implement the Baabda agreement as soon as possible.”
The head of the GLC Ghassan Ghosn stated after the meeting that the wage hike dispute has not been resolved.
He added that Nahhas deemed the Baabda agreement between the Economic Committees and the GLC as “illegal and nonbinding” and he is therefore not obligated to commit to it.
He added however that he will support the agreement seeing as the union was one of the sides that approved it.
Ghosn demanded however a hundred percent wage increase “because of the hardships the people endured because of the high cost of living.”
He hoped that the labor minister would convince the concerned sides in government of the proposals, adding that the GLC will commit to the Baabda agreement until a hundred percent raise is approved.
A meeting for the price index committee called by Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas failed on Wednesday to reach an agreement between Nahhas, the Economic Committee, the General Labor Confederation, and the Syndical Coordination Committee.
Earlier on Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri expressed optimism concerning the wage hike.
“We’re at the final phases and the discussions are good,” Berri told An Nahar newspaper.
The increase on brackets had remained as one of the contentious issues in the wage hike.
The Economic Committees had met on Thursday morning to coordinate their stances, agreeing to hold onto the Baabda deal and describing the agreement as “historical” between the two production parties.
They stressed that the deal “should be fortified and maintained.”
Nahhas refuses to sign the deal between the two production parties for lacking the “legal terms,” he told the daily. “Their agreement doesn’t mean that the deal is in the best interest of employees and it’s not above the law.”
Head of the private schools teachers association Nehme Mahfoud told An Nahar that the Syndical Coordination Committee insists on using “the percentage of increase on the brackets (instead of the lump sum mentioned in the Baabda deal), while the transportation allowance term must be referred to the parliament to approve it.”
He didn't participate in the price index committee's meeting on Thursday as he threatened earlier "not to participate if no major development happened," according to As Safir.
For his part, Head of the Association of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Hanna Gharib told al- Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday that the deal between the GLC and the Economic Committees aims at “infringing the earned rights of the workers and teachers.”
Ghosn told As Safir newspaper that Nahhas “insists” on moving back to point zero, criticizing the minister’s plan that was approved by the Shura Council.
The Council approved on Wednesday the new wage hike proposal made by Nahhas, who didn’t put his proposal to vote at the cabinet yet, on condition of introducing amendments to it.
Nicolas Shammas, the head of the Beirut Merchant Association, said that Nahhas was pushing the parties during the price index committee on Wednesday to adopt his plan ignoring the deal between the two production parties.
“We refuse to modify any point in the deal,” As Safir newspaper quoted him as saying.
12 January 2012, 17:50
02
The dispute was resolved, both parties signed it but Charbel could not help but pull a plan out of his Nahass and stink up the place. Aoun really had to scrape off the bottom of the tank to find him but that seems to be were he finds most of them, look at 1-Bassil.
12 January 2012, 19:56
12
I think that it is a well orchestrated conspiracy against the private sector or what is left of it. 100% increase? I am 100% sure that if such increases are introduced, 40% of the lebanese institutions would directly shut down while other 20% will give it a try for few months and then shut down, where as the remaining 40% would more likely feel unhindered. This means that at least 40% of Lebanon's hard labor class would become unemployed. If this happens only Iranian companies that already sat foots on lebanese soil in the wake of 2006 july war would fill the void making lebanon evermore depending on Hezbollah to survive and hence turning the lebanese private sector into an Iranian hostage. As for Ghassan Ghosn. everybody remember that he was the one who launched the hostile revolutions in the May 2007 mini civil war of hezbollah and then the next day all his demands went to sweet hibernation, he is fooling no one he's a part of the sad puzzle that is eating this country,
12 January 2012, 21:29
02
bipartisan: if you are against increasing the salaries then you should ask this gvt to strictly control the prices which have increased with no reason but out of pure speculation! the gvt also should reduce its spending, starting by a reform of the privileges the MP get or the army! but they won t shoot themselves in their feet!
the gvt is incapable of controlling prices?incapable of stopping corruption or privileges? so workers have to get an increase or else how can they live?
people are fed up with pocket money as salaries which force graduates to look elsewhere to get a decent life!
we should get a decent life here! but which politician cares of the welfare of the population... i haven t seen one yet.
12 January 2012, 22:07
01
peace, je ne crois pas que le fait d'augmenter le SMIC fait en sorte que la situation économique va forcement s'améliorer car si on dépasse un certain seuil c'est le chômage qui l'emporte. c'est même fort probable qu'une augmentation de 100% du SMIC va conduire à une productivité moins bonne des entreprises Libanaise. c'est pour ça je rejoins un peu bipartisan. Par contre la solution se trouve en créant de l'emploi, en facilitant la création d'entreprise à forte valeur ajoutée comme dans le domaine de télécommunication, d'informatique et de programmation ou le capital nécessaire est faible. Un peu comme ce qui est fait en Irlande il y a quelques années!
12 January 2012, 22:16
01
Je donne l'exemple de l'entreprise MUREX qui est fortement rentable pour l'économie Libanaise tant au niveau d'embauche des Libanais qu'au niveau productivité (je dirais même international).
Je pense et ce n'est que mon modeste point de vue qu'une incitation, et qu'une aide de la part du gouvernement à pousser les nouveaux diplômés à créer des "start up" dans des domaines à forte valeur ajoutée est meilleur qu'une augmentation si brutale du SMIC. D'autant plus que dans ces domaines on a juste besoin de l'intelligence des diplômés Libanais. Ceci dit je suis quand même pour une augmentation mesurée du SMIC parce que le niveau actuel est vraiment très bas par rapport à l'indice des prix à la consommation (là je te rejoint "peace").
13 January 2012, 02:18
01
These guys don't know what they are talking about. If they were interested in investing in future generations they wouldn't be fighting on pure political ground... Did anyone hear about a program somewhere (education, technology, infrastructure, taxes)? of course not, and now they think that oil and gaz will solve all their problems - we will soon catch the dutch disease... Idiots!
13 January 2012, 08:21
30
the filthy zionist information war department has added a new "faylasoof" member to their strategic department name bipbatanjan who thinks he is the wall road journal.
