As soon as public sector employees began their strike on June 13, Prime Minister Najib Mikati revived a phrase used by the authority when it deceived depositors by asserting the "sanctity of deposits." He referred to the "sanctity of the rights of public sector employees" and his attempts with the available resources to secure their means of survival. Since then, over three weeks have passed without Mikati taking any action, but he tossed the burning ball into the hands of Minister of Labor in the caretaker government, Mustafa Bayram. The latter stepped back from this task two days ago citing "insults and skepticism from various employee groups." In reality, Mikati has shown little interest in the public sector or its employees; he, along with other capital owners, has long viewed public sector workers as a burden on the state and described the public sector as unproductive. Now, after the collapse of this sector, they only want it to serve as a means to implement the customs dollar, justifying tax increases. Hence, they do not believe that correcting employee salaries is necessary but can instead buy their loyalty by increasing social assistance through nominal wage adjustments.
The Minister of Labor was tasked with negotiating with the Association of Public Administration Employees up to a meeting held the day before yesterday at the Grand Serail. Attending this meeting alongside Mikati were Bayram, Minister of Finance Youssef Khalil, Minister of State for Administrative Development Najla Riachi, Minister of Communications Johnny Karam, President of the Court of Accounts Mohamed Badran, Head of the Civil Service Council Nasreen Mishmoushi, and Head of the Central Inspection George Atiyeh. During the meeting, three points were agreed upon:
- Convert social assistance to a full salary, which was previously equivalent to half a salary, to take effect starting from July, retroactively, even if it was not paid at the beginning of the month, provided that the employee attends the administration at least two days a week.
- Raise the transportation allowance to 85,000 Lebanese pounds for each day attended.
- Increase the health care budget fourfold and school assistance fivefold.
These "reforms" remain verbal at this point. They do not imply that there will be a different approach from the government regarding the correction of public sector employees' salaries beyond superficial adjustments. This is what Mikati and other ruling powers, who watch what is happening, desire. The question arises: why did the Minister of Finance not engage in negotiations with public sector employees when he is the relevant authority on this matter? Why does Mikati want to relieve this burden from Khalil and shift it to Bayram? In any case, what happened was that by the end of the meeting, it was decided to task the Minister of Finance with securing funding for a subsequent meeting to set the mechanism for distributing the funds. However, Khalil rejected the first demand from the Association of Public Administration Employees to correct salaries according to the bank dollar exchange rate, meaning converting their salaries to the 1,500 pounds dollar, and then paying them in pounds according to the exchange rate of 8,000 pounds. The Minister of Finance argued that his study indicated an increase in inflation should he comply with the employees' demands. It seemed as if the Minister of Finance had forgotten the current inflation rates caused by the Governor of Lebanon's Central Bank, Riad Salameh, during Khalil's tenure as the director of financial operations at the Central Bank and one of his main aides. Regardless, Khalil has started speaking in Mikati's well-known jargon: that is, making promises. He thus promised employees a correction of their salaries once the budget is approved and state revenues increase through implementing new fees and taxes.
It is surprising that neither Khalil nor Mikati show any concern about the implications of these taxes on inflation, nor their impact on poverty rates, particularly for public sector employees first and foremost. Moreover, Khalil, along with Mikati, who is primarily responsible for managing the entire crisis, knows that the approval of the budget is postponed until after the end of President Michel Aoun's term because they oppose any step that could be recorded for the tenure. The easiest victim in this equation is the public sector, serving personal ambitions and political rivalries. Moreover, the disintegration of public institutions and the total collapse of the sector align with what this authority has promoted for decades about its unproductivity and the corruption that plagues it.
In reality, this political class bears responsibility for the economic model established since the 1990s and all the patronage that invaded public administrations. Yet, today it speaks of the incompetence of employees just as it previously addressed the cost of the public sector on the treasury. It claims that the shutdown of the public sector disrupts economic life! The procrastination in improving employee conditions, despite all it causes in the continuity of the strike and paralyzing the country with its port, airport, administrations, and institutions, is not happening in vain, particularly since the execution of the public sector serves the privatization efforts of telecommunications, electricity, and the port that Mikati and others dream of. It aids in selling state assets after suffocating them. But primarily, it aligns with the conditions of the IMF, which requires "rationalizing" this sector without making any corrections for its employees in salary or rights. Although the process of "rationalization" has occurred spontaneously due to the flight of the majority of young people from official administrations to private jobs or abroad. This is confirmed by the President of the Association of Public Administration Employees, Nawal Nasr, in her remarks to "Al-Akhbar," noting that the reduction of the public sector has begun, and many employees, primarily young talents that form the elite, have left. Nasr sees that they "have made many concessions, such as giving up the cost of living index and a significant part of their rights and needs. Yet, we insist on receiving salaries according to the minimum bank dollar rate of 8,000 pounds, even though this equation deprives us of about 70% of the value of our salaries." She points out that "proving the success of public administrations has contributed to their targeting more, and the lack of responsiveness to employees' rights can only be understood in the context of a deliberate state collapse and stripping it of its competent human resources." The demands are minimal and offer no privileges, yet they contribute to securing the basic means of living for citizens temporarily: correcting salaries and pensions, ensuring healthcare coverage that prevents the death of public sector employees at the doors of hospitals, and raising the transportation allowance to match the soaring fuel prices. It appears that the government, under its president and finance minister, is unconcerned about the employees' survival, but rather is pushing them towards demise. When those responsible for the crisis decide to convene a meeting to discuss employees' demands, they exclude the Association from the discussion and do not even inform it of the decisions reached!
