The strike of public sector employees continues to be tied to a tug-of-war between non-negotiable demands and official negligence toward them. Some doubt the effectiveness of a conflict with a state that "neither comprehends nor listens." However, the attempts to amplify these voices persist. The national labor conference convened by the Association of Public Administration Employees last week underscored the determination to advance these demands until they are achieved. The conference, held at the Engineers’ Union, was attended by the International Trade Union Confederation, the International Labor Organization, labor and educational federations and unions, various social and educational collective movements, and the Coordinating Council of Retirees’ Associations. Also present were Dr. Lamia Mbaid Al-Bassat, Director of the Basile Fleihan Financial Institute, Dr. Jean Alia, President of the Public Procurement Authority, Dr. Mahmoud Haidar, former president of the Association of Public Administration Employees, as well as representatives from various teachers' and retirees' associations.
While the International Labor Organization and the Arab Trade Union Confederation have shown solidarity and willingness to support, attendees agreed on the importance of upholding demands: rejection of linking the customs dollar to the coverage of rights owed to public sector employees; recovery of embezzled, gifted, and wasted state funds; lifting banking secrecy on anyone who received money from state funds; and implementing comprehensive administrative and financial reform across all administrations and institutions through judicial empowerment and oversight agencies. Meanwhile, retirees insisted on correcting their salaries, considering military pension benefits as one entity and calculating any adjustments based on this notion; rectifying the wrongs suffered by teachers and secondary education professors in the implementation of salary scales; settling overdue entitlements for retired ambassadors; and retroactively paying the provisions of Article 29 of the salary scale law for first-class retirees on par with working employees.
**Enough with Piecemeal Decisions**
In a quick round of opinions from some participants, Alia emphasized to "The Call of the Nation" that the public sector is one of the pillars of the economy and its regulatory body, noting that the rapid collapse of this sector is a direct result of the economic and financial collapse since late 2019. He affirmed that "the worst is yet to come, especially after the curtain falls on the last act of the fuel subsidy saga," calling for genuine reforms based on accountability and the independence of the judiciary.
For his part, the President of the Executive Board of the Lebanese University’s Professors’ Association, Dr. Amer Halwani, stated that the Lebanese University—which has been on an open strike for over a month—was born from significant national struggle, thus its role must be preserved amidst the state's negligence regarding its fate and future. On behalf of the Coordinating Council of Public Sector Retirees, Dr. Shabab Diab expressed astonishment at the successive governments’ ongoing discussions and decision-making in a piecemeal manner without success, except in elections that renewed their power. The "innovation of stimulating production is merely a prelude to revolting against pensions by distinguishing between the working staff and retirees," he declared.
Additionally, Castro Abdullah, President of the National Union of Workers and Employees in Lebanon, pointed out that the ongoing strike in public administrations is a form of civil disobedience to overthrow the corrupt authority that has engaged in relentless theft, waste, and documented corruption for thirty years. He called on the parliament to approve and ratify Convention No. 87 issued by the International Labor Organization regarding the right to organize for workers in the public sector. Meanwhile, Aida Nasrallah, representing the National Consultative Gathering, urged support for the demands of the public sector and the open strike while calling for the establishment of a social welfare state, attributing the dire situation of the country to the financial and economic policies of the ruling power.
**Failed Attempts**
On behalf of the Lebanese Association of Students Abroad, Wafaa Al-Sayed Ahmad lamented the efforts of those who took power post-war to destroy the public sector and isolate it to seize state wealth and public facilities. She added, "Realizing the gravity of the crisis, we sought to enact a law to support students financially, yet the authorities of finance and corruption sidelined the judiciary and prevented the law's implementation, rendering our children captives of hunger, deprivation, and homelessness abroad." Similarly, Maroun Khoury, President of the General Federation of Labor Unions in Lebanon, called for preserving the administration and the job by establishing a roadmap for restructuring it through a comprehensive assessment of job titles, employee numbers, legal status, and identifying shortages and surpluses.
Representing the education sector in the consultative gathering, Hanna Moussa explained how public employees have lost more than 95% of their purchasing power, and how employees no longer benefit from health services and social benefits such as education grants and transportation allowances: "The major loss is the state's abandonment of its role, thus we demand rectification of salaries to compensate for inflation and increase withdrawal limits while rejecting partial offerings from the state." The Association of Basic Education Retirees attributed the deprivation of more than 20,000 teachers and retirees from their rights to the state's failure to comply with legal obligations, noting that a bill signed by nine deputies in the previous parliament aimed at rectifying the association's situation remains stuck in the drawer of the parliament's office.
**Who Dares to Hold Accountable?**
In light of these statements, we asked the President of the Association of Public Administration Employees, Nawal Nasr, about holding employees responsible for the collapse of public finances under the guise of salary scales. While showing her objection, she stated, "The total salaries of the public sector, including its retirees after the approval of the salary scale, reached 12 trillion Lebanese pounds—equivalent to 8 billion dollars at an exchange rate of 1500, which today equates to about 450 million dollars. This means that one employee’s salary is currently paid to 17 employees." According to Nasr, public education has been neglected, crippling its components' resilience, through the establishment of schools under various misleading names, including free and semi-free, which are, in reality, funds mismanagement. She highlighted the unleashing of "billion-dollar" tax exemptions in the budget, turning them into endless waste channels: "They are intent on undermining the pension system and extinguishing retirees' rights. They imposed an income tax on pensions and insisted on it contrary to Constitutional Council Decision No. 13/2019, while at the same time exempting diplomats’ allowances and compensations, whose incomes can reach around 25,000 dollars monthly."
According to Nasr, the state is not bankrupt. For instance, the Minister of Public Works and Transport recently stated that the revenue from the Port of Beirut alone approaches 16 million dollars monthly. She continued, "Last February, the state renewed a grant of 38,164 square meters to a private company in Dhour Al-Mukayel, in addition to millions of square meters that, had they not been seized and gifted, would have brought billions of dollars annually into the state treasury. The government continues to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to major financiers as rent for governmental buildings."
The shocking figures attributed to the salary budget are replicated in numerous areas, including the outrageous salaries of hundreds of contractors who were improperly incorporated into the administrations, the provoking salaries in various public utilities, and the payments to fictitious employees in newly established companies by certain ministers over the years, along with exaggerated budgetary expenses under provocative headings (uniforms, food, invitations, hospitality, holidays, and representation). Additionally, there are the outrageous salaries paid to select groups, such as contributions to the salaries of 2,500 employees at Ogero amounting to 200 billion pounds compared to 412 billion for all public administration workers combined.
**The Solution... No Solution**
Given the current situation, where could solutions come from? Dr. Amin Salah, the former Director General of Public Accounting at the Ministry of Finance, indicated in a discussion with "The Call of the Nation" that the rights of public sector employees cannot be granted without securing coverage for them, as any salary increase must be matched by available resources in the state treasury: "If these resources are available, excellent; if not, the state should borrow. If that is not possible, it should resort to imposing new taxes and fees." This is the general principle from the perspective of public accounting laws and state finance. But how can it be applied amid financial, economic, and monetary downturns? "Solutions must be linked to economic movement and social stability, as well as economic revival and financial and monetary stability; addressing the situation with a unilateral vision is not possible. It’s true that the employee is wronged and their demands are just, but where will they obtain them? Will it be through increasing taxes and fees imposed on the people?" Salah questions, with one answer: "Taxes, in all cases, are deductions from citizens' income, and talking about increasing them alongside customs fees is nothing but a type of deceit that will worsen the economic crisis and amplify the collapse." He affirmed the impossibility of the current political authority meeting the minimum demands of public sector employees, which amount to approximately 20 million pounds monthly, and did not rule out an impending explosion of inflation and the economic and social reality to turn into a "nuclear explosion," as he put it.
**Is Chaos on the Horizon?**
Salah addressed public sector employees: "You cannot solve your problem alone. Either the solution is comprehensive or it isn’t, necessitating the formulation of a comprehensive financial, economic, and social plan." But what kind of monetary, banking, and political model will lead the country and manage its affairs to establish that comprehensive plan? According to Salah, some talk about granting judicial autonomy, but isn’t it the ruling authority that shackles it? The country is looted, but isn't the constrained judiciary that restores the embezzled funds? Furthermore, is there genuine political will for a surgical operation to eliminate corruption hotspots as seen in Greece, Iceland, and Spain? "The solution does not lie in granting the public sector some of its demands to silence it, nor in raising the value of the pound, which is a deliberate act to impoverish people and decrease the state’s debts and cover losses through the plundering of citizens' money and deceiving them. Rather, the solution requires establishing that comprehensive plan to eradicate the rampant cancer in the country."
Finally, Salah expressed his astonishment at the lack of uprising among citizens, public sector employees, Lebanese university professors, and the security and military forces, while indicating skepticism about the unity of the public sector - highlighting the issue of providing transportation allowances for some employees while others struggle to reach their workplaces. He reminded us at the end of his warning since 2009 that the country is heading toward three stages: bankruptcy, collapse, and total chaos. Unfortunately, chaos looms on the horizon.
