“Lebanon Debate”
Like a snowball, the demands movements will roll, sweeping the streets and pushing the government to approve the demands, after employees, teachers, retirees, and contractors announced a series of movements starting tomorrow, in administrations in general, until next Sunday, amid a threat to open a strike if their demands are not taken into account.
In this context, Ibrahim Nahal, a member of the Administrative Board of the Public Administration Employees Association, reveals, in an interview with Lebanon Debate, that “all the contacts we have made, and everything we have accomplished to date with various political officials, starting from His Excellency the President, all the way to His Excellency the Minister of Finance, His Excellency President Tariq Badri, and others and others, have not yielded any results, and we have not seen any significant progress.”
On the other hand, he confirms, “After all the attempts and efforts we have made, and since the employees are no longer able to bear and reach this stage of pressure, the employee can no longer continue. Every day the situation becomes more difficult for him, whether at the level of salaries, pensions, social benefits, or the retirement system, and all of these things that we suffer from.”
He points out that “the state puts at the forefront of its policies only one policy, which is the policy of the World Bank, the donor countries, and the International Monetary Fund, and it did not take our situation into account one bit. We have rights and interests, but they cannot give them to us,” and he stresses that there is money, and there are surpluses, but they cannot spend it, because that, according to their logic, obscures the rights of depositors in what is called the gap of financial losses.
He believes that “these policies do not work in our interest, and cannot do us justice. Therefore, today we have returned to making the bitter decision that we consider necessary, because we do not want to accumulate this amount of injustice and go back to striking in vain. For us, striking is not a hobby, but rather a means to achieve specific and clear demands.”
He says: “Today we started with a first step, like a snowball that began to roll. Tomorrow will be the beginning, and it will expand to include public administration employees, contractors, and judicial assistants,” pointing to three successive statements in this context, in addition to a statement for the educational sector, so the total number of statements is four, all of which fall within gradual and progressive steps of action.
Regarding coordination with retired military personnel, Nahal confirms this matter, as the “Gathering of Associations” includes retired military personnel, retired civilians, as well as those in service, everyone is going on this strike.
He warns that “all these moves aim to put pressure on the budget issue, because we do not hear anything about the 2026 budget, which does not include any allocations for public administration employees or the public sector. This budget, in this form, should not pass.”
Regarding what is said about stopping incentives and merging them with the salary for employees, he says: “We are in favor of integrating these increases into the core of the salary, but even with this integration, the treatment must be quick. Is it reasonable for us to wait years yet? The salary must first be corrected before any increases are integrated into it, that is, the salary must be returned to its purchasing value as it was in 2019, and then all these incentives and allowances are integrated.”
It is noteworthy that the strike begins tomorrow, Tuesday, and will continue until Sunday, and there will be continuous movement and escalation, and there will certainly be a sit-in, revealing participation in the sit-in that was decided by teachers’ associations.
He says: “We have declared this month as a month of anger that will spread throughout the various Lebanese regions and streets, and we will certainly witness a general and comprehensive sit-in.”
