Public strike gains momentum with third day

Private school teachers join in

The Union Coordination Commission (UCC), representing public sector employees and public and private schoolteachers, entered its third day of strike on Thursday (February 21) protesting the Cabinet’s delay in passing the new salary scale bill to Parliament.

Employees at Ministries and public institutions, and teachers at both public and private schools are joining the open-ended strike. The union plans to carry on with the strike until the government refers the salary scale to Parliament.

Civil servants and employees of almost all ministries joined the strike, including the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the Ministry of Industry (MoI). “We came to the office but we are not getting any work done or accepting paperwork,” one employee at the MoA said. Another staff member at the MoI said employees are accepting paperwork, but are not processing them.

Nehmeh Mahfoud, Head of the Association of Private School Teachers, said: “There is a good turnout from both private and public schools.” He said the number of private school teachers participating in the protest increased on Thursday as teachers from Catholic schools joined in.

Mahfoud said: “Usually private sector teachers refuse to participate in the strike, because they are threatened by their employers.” The UCC expects an increase in the number of protesters on Friday and Saturday.

Father Boutros Azar, Secretary General of Catholic Schools, said: “Initially, all private schools didn't answer the calls for the strike, but today some private schools have suspended classes.” He said more private school teachers participated because the organizers of the protest had been circulating false rumors in order to rally more support. Azar said the strike is politicized, holding the protesters responsible for disrupting the school year.”