Public education, justice, registration: several sectors on strike in Lebanon

Several strikes paralyzed economic sectors in Lebanon on Monday, with the president of the General Confederation of Workers (CGTL), Bechara Asmar, calling for a general strike on February 8, while the national currency continued its massive depreciation and that the country collapsed. without its leaders outlining the reforms essential to its survival.

The Department of Road Traffic and the Car Registration Authority announced, in a press release, “the closure of all its branches and divisions in Dekouané (in the suburbs of Beirut) and in other regions due to the continuation of the employees’ strike ” , until their financial conditions improve, reports the National News Agency (Ani, official). The press release added that the payment of annual circulation taxes and the renewal of biometric driving licenses “will continue on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday” at the postal operator.

According to our correspondent in North Lebanon, Michel Hallak, companies like Whish Money, where you can arrange transactions with car mechanics, are struggling. Hundreds of car owners are rushing there to pay their dues before February 1, fearing a price hike that will follow the decision to adopt 15,000 Lebanese pounds as the official exchange rate against the dollar, instead of 1,500 LL.

According to Ani, the legal assistants in the northern governorates have announced that they will “avoid visiting all court offices for a week”, from Monday to Friday inclusive, in the hope that their movement warning “will resonate with those for whom the strike is intended”. We hope that “they will have a sense of responsibility, and we will not have to extend the work suspension”, they added.

The education sector
This strike was a protest “against the unbearable living conditions and the erosion of the purchasing power of the legal assistant”, since the salary of an assistant “is now equivalent to two 20-liter cans of petrol, maybe was less, and it became impossible for an employee to regularly go to [son] job”, they regretted in a statement. They also noted that their colleagues in Beirut and other governorates have not published anything to date.

Regarding the public education sector, our South Lebanon correspondent Mountasser Abdallah reports that teachers will continue their strike, which began on 10 January. They called on outgoing Prime Minister Nagib Mikati “to fulfill the promise he made two weeks ago”, and demanded that he convene his cabinet to discuss and approve their demands.

In their press release, the teachers asked the outgoing Minister of Education to suspend the school year until the government meeting and that “the necessary decisions have been made to respond to their demands in order to promote their return to the school”.

Many employees in almost all sectors of Lebanon have gone on strike several times to protest against the worsening of their working conditions, amid an unprecedented economic crisis in more than three years that continues to paralyze the country.

Call for a general strike
For his part, Mr. Asmar called for a general strike on February 8 across Lebanon, to protest against the continued deterioration of the quality of life and work, especially due to the record devaluation of the national currency. fuel price.

At the end of the meeting of trade unions and road transport federations, the secretary general regretted the “inaction of the executive power” in the face of “increasing prices and the depreciation of the Lebanese pound that cannot be stopped”. “Car drivers can no longer buy gasoline,” he lamented, 20 liters exceeds a million pounds.

“The executive council of CGTL will meet on Wednesday February 1 and announce a strike throughout the national territory for February 8,” said Asmar, noting that the road transport sector, the unions of public independent professions and private sector, teachers and unions of liberal professions are invited to participate in this strike. The unionist finally indicated that the roads would not be cut off and called on the security forces to protect the demonstrators.

In recent years, CGTL has organized several strikes to demand an improvement in the situation of workers in Lebanon which is in serious crisis. In addition to the hellish descent of the national currency against the dollar – about 57,000 LL against a greenback on Monday – the unbridled increase in fuel prices has dealt a heavy blow to the purchasing power of the population, in all sectors. in general, including transport professions.