Following numerous strikes, protests and controversies, a solution to the issue of salaries and retirement pensions within the public sector might materialize.
After postponing Friday's Council of Ministers meeting, which was meant to address this matter, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati held a series of consultations within recent hours. He plans to convene another meeting in the middle of next week to discuss social benefits for the public sector and retirees, as well as to present a draft law on the restructuring and reorganization of banks.
In this regard, it appears that the government may extend financial incentives to all civil and military employees, not solely those within the Ministry of Finance, given the risks linked to strikes that have disrupted various departments and administrative bodies. According to the daily Arabic newspaper al-Diyar, intensive discussions are underway to address the retirees' demands.
According to ministerial sources cited by al-Diyar, serious negotiations are underway to offer retirees a higher percentage than what has already been suggested. For instance, if an employee receives an increase bringing their salary to 40% of pre-crisis earnings, retirees would receive a pension equivalent to 30% of their pre-crisis income.
It should be mentioned that civil servants have been on strike since January 29. Employees from various ministries — including Information, Agriculture, Telecommunications, Tourism, Labor and Economy — successively announced last Wednesday and Thursday that they will completely stop working. They are denouncing, among other things, inequalities in salary increases and allowances within the public sector, but mainly their exclusion from allowances that the government decided to allocate to certain categories of civil servants.
Likewise, retired military personnel have steadily been holding protests to denounce the depreciation of their pensions.
After postponing Friday's Council of Ministers meeting, which was meant to address this matter, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati held a series of consultations within recent hours. He plans to convene another meeting in the middle of next week to discuss social benefits for the public sector and retirees, as well as to present a draft law on the restructuring and reorganization of banks.
In this regard, it appears that the government may extend financial incentives to all civil and military employees, not solely those within the Ministry of Finance, given the risks linked to strikes that have disrupted various departments and administrative bodies. According to the daily Arabic newspaper al-Diyar, intensive discussions are underway to address the retirees' demands.
According to ministerial sources cited by al-Diyar, serious negotiations are underway to offer retirees a higher percentage than what has already been suggested. For instance, if an employee receives an increase bringing their salary to 40% of pre-crisis earnings, retirees would receive a pension equivalent to 30% of their pre-crisis income.
It should be mentioned that civil servants have been on strike since January 29. Employees from various ministries — including Information, Agriculture, Telecommunications, Tourism, Labor and Economy — successively announced last Wednesday and Thursday that they will completely stop working. They are denouncing, among other things, inequalities in salary increases and allowances within the public sector, but mainly their exclusion from allowances that the government decided to allocate to certain categories of civil servants.
Likewise, retired military personnel have steadily been holding protests to denounce the depreciation of their pensions.
Read more
Comments