The administrative body of the General Administration Employees Association announced the "continuation of forced work suspension with one working day per week for those who can... starting from Wednesday until Friday, the 13th of this month inclusive." They called upon "colleagues, employees, and public sector associations to hold a sit-in in front of the Grand Serail, coinciding with the Cabinet session that will discuss the 2024 budget."
A statement from the body indicated that "there is nothing new from the (caretaker) government... no new developments regarding the partial correction of salaries, wages, and severance compensations, nor any apology for the lack of intent to restore even a small part of our usurped rights." The statement added, "The basic salary for 80% of employees ranges between 11 and 20 US dollars, and severance compensations based on it sometimes amount to less than 250 dollars. These salaries, after deductions, are often between 130 and 140 US dollars, and to receive them, employees must work fourteen days, which for most costs between eight and fourteen million Lebanese pounds as transportation allowance."
It continued: "The government refuses to integrate the increases—regardless of their fragility—into the basic salary to avoid calculating them in severance compensations, which they insist on subjecting to a haircut of 98%, and in pensions, which they continue to erode and undermine daily. There is no new information from the government regarding health coverage, medical care, medicine, and hospitalization; only empty bubbles and throwing dust in the eyes of those who can no longer be blinded by dust. It is no secret that the gap between public administration employees and the ability to enter a hospital or purchase medication remains wide. Their salaries for a year are not enough for a simple surgical procedure, and many essential medications are no longer covered."
The statement also called for "correcting the value of severance compensations that have been paid or will be paid, based on what has been lost. To stop freezing the value of family allowances that were frozen in the 1990s at 33,000 Lebanese pounds per child and 66,000 Lebanese pounds per spouse, and to recalculate them based on the minimum wage at all times. To provide public administration employees with a transportation allowance calculated according to the distances between their homes and workplaces and based on the current price of gasoline at all times. Additionally, to increase educational grants and social benefits in proportion to the rise in inflation and current school fees."
