The Contract Professors Committee at the Lebanese University (LU) has announced “a general and open strike starting on the first day of the academic year 2024-2025” until its demands are finally approved by the Council of Ministers.
In a press release issued on Monday, the LU contract workers said that their decision to strike was made “following a survey of 645 contract professors at the Lebanese University who fulfill the requirements for full-time temporary roles, and who have overwhelmingly expressed their support for this course of action.”
The “overwhelming majority” of those questioned announced that “they will not return to the university unless they win their case for full-time professor status at LU.” “The strike will cease once the government ratifies the transition of contract workers to full-time temporary status,” the committee’s statement asserted.
The UL contract teachers also urged all teachers “to stand firm whatever the pressures,” indicating that the progress of the strike and its effectiveness will be periodically reassessed.
They also warned the relevant LU authorities against “any termination of contractual teachers’ contracts, salary reductions or withheld payment of their dues for the past year,” calling such actions “reprehensible.”
In addition, they put the ball in the court of the political, spiritual and educational authorities, calling on them “to save the Lebanese University by approving their requests” and to uphold freedom of expression and professors’ rights.
“The committee will keep its meetings open to keep abreast of the approval of the sabbatical dossier,” the text concluded.
