Students, Parents Join SCC Wage Battle

Students and their parents joined on Tuesday the Syndicate Coordination Committee in its endeavors by participating in its sit-in near the Ministry of Education in Beirut's UNESCO area.

The angry protesters held banners calling on the cabinet to refer the new wage scale for public employees to the parliament, accusing it of negligence and the Economic Committees of corruption.

Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) reported that participants in the demonstration chained their hands in solidarity with the demands of the committee.

“Today is a great day for all unions in Lebanon,” head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association Hanna Gharib told protester.

He hailed the unity of students, parents and teachers to preserve the country's “dignity.”

The SCC official vowed that the coalition will not allow officials to seize the rights of employees, reiterating calls on the cabinet to refer the new salary scale to the parliament.

He held officials, who are stalling the matter, and the Economic Committees responsible for the SCC's open-ended strike.

The Committees have warned the cabinet not to approve the funding, saying any such measure would inflict major losses on the public and private sectors.

The SCC's open-ended strike entered its fourth week as the government is at deadlocked on finding ways to fund the salary scale that it approved last year. But the SCC is demanding a swift decision and referral of the bill to parliament for adoption.

Gharib called for a sit-in near the Baabda Palace on Wednesday.

He also told protesters that demonstrations will be staged on Thursday near Beirut's port and near Beirut Rafik Hariri's international airport on Friday.

The SCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, has vowed to hold daily protests near government institutions to pressure the government.