SCC to Rally Tuesday before 'Day of Marching', Catholic Schools to Close

The Syndicate Coordination Committee on Monday decided to stage sit-ins Tuesday outside private schools whose administrations are “threatening teachers and preventing them from taking part in strikes,” after it organized nationwide protests on Monday.

Meanwhile, MTV reported that “the general-secretariat of Catholic schools issued an internal circular instructing that schools be closed tomorrow."

Following a meeting it held to decide its next steps, the SCC called on the parents of students of public and private schools not to send their children to schools “because of the nationwide and open-ended strike,” urging them to stand by the SCC.

The SCC again called on administrative employees and contract workers to continue to paralyze state institutions, ministries and the Grand Serail, asking them to stage a sit-in outside the VAT building at 8:00 a.m.

The SCC described Monday and Tuesday's protests as a preparation for what it called the “Day of Marching” on Wednesday, when it will organize a central demonstration that will head from Barbir Square to the Grand Serail.

On the seventh day of its open-ended strike on Monday, the Syndicate Coordination Committee held a protest near the Central Bank in Beirut's Hamra area to press the cabinet to refer the new wage scale to the parliament.

The protesters gathered near the Central Bank where they chanted anti-government slogans as security forces erected metal obstacles to prevent them from holding their sit-in near the main entrance of the Bank.

Riot police heavily deployed in the area.

Security forces removed later the obstacles after negotiations and vows by the SCC officials not to cause any chaos or clash with police.

They held banners calling on the cabinet "not to manipulate the people."

Head of the private school teachers association Nehme Mahfoud told protesters that the SCC officials will hold a meeting later in the day to form committees to convince the schools that didn't abide by the strike to close on Tuesday.

He hailed private school teachers that abided by the SCC's strike, saying: “We are not thugs, we are teachers and we are keen to safeguard the country more than officials.”

Mahfoud reiterated that the government is procrastinating in referring the new wage scale to the parliament.

“The battle is between the SCC and the cabinet. It's not with the administrations of schools,” Mahfoud stressed.

The Technical Schools Syndicate also warned the Economic Committees that they will force shut their businesses and factories for pressuring the government not to refer the wage scale to parliament.

The SCC will stage Tuesday's sit-in near the Ministry of Economy in Downtown Beirut.

Earlier, Mahfoud told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that 90 percent of public and private schools were closed on Monday.

He revealed that 27 demonstrations will be staged on Tuesday across Lebanon, pointing out that the central sit-in will be held on Wednesday simultaneously with a cabinet session.

On Sunday, Catholic schools secretary-general Father Butros Azar rejected to close the schools.

He announced that Monday is a normal school day, slamming the “threatening rhetoric from teachers.”

However, private school teachers in the southern city of Sidon and the Collège des Frères said they were committed to the strike.

The cabinet has been stalling in finding sources to fund the scale that was approved last year, leading to growing differences with the SCC, which has been accusing it of negligence.

However, the government argues that it is delaying the decision on the funding in an attempt to thoroughly discuss plans to boost the treasury's revenue to cover the expenses of the salaries boost.

The state treasury will have more than $1.2 billion to cover over the presence of 180,000 public sector employees including military personnel.

Ministerial sources said earlier in comments to An Nahar newspaper that the “law and constitution guarantee the right to protest but it is limited by the safety of citizens.”

“The government is exerting efforts to resolve the new wage scale dispute but will not yield to the street,” the sources pointed out.

The SCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, kicked off last week an open-ended strike to protest the government’s procrastination.

It has been staging since then protests near ministries and escalating its measures by forming “protest committees” to halt the work at public institutions, vowing not to back down.