An Open Letter on Public Sector Salaries and the Six Multipliers... Here Are the Details

The head of the National Council of Former State Employees and coordinator of the Public Sector Unions Gathering, Antoine Gebran, addressed an open letter "to public opinion and those concerned among officials regarding public sector salaries and the six multipliers," stating:

"The public sector unions, in dozens of letters and statements issued by them, have persistently presented their suffering and demands for improving salaries, wages, and retirement pensions with the aim of reaching a new salary scale and grade structure. As a result of ground movements and after a series of reviews, the government promised to improve salaries gradually, starting from the first months of the year 2026, so that they become 30 times (i.e., half of what they were in the year 2019 in US dollars), with the remaining half to be paid in five installments at a rate of 6 times every six months. To achieve this goal and move the matter from the theoretical level to the practical level, the Public Sector Unions Gathering (military and civilian) took the initiative to prepare a comprehensive draft law, which it submitted to His Excellency the President of the Republic on 23/12/2025, along with its explanatory memorandum and a brief study of the monetary and financial situations.

Council of Ministers Decision No. 2 dated 16/2/2026.

After a series of meetings and movements, and after diligent follow-up by the public sector unions, individually or collectively within the framework of the Public Sector Unions Gathering (military and civilian), the Council of Ministers approved in its Decision No. 2 dated 16/2/2026 a draft decree aimed at granting a temporary compensation as of 1/3/2026 to all public sector employees and retirees receiving a retirement pension, equivalent to six times the basic salary or compensation or monthly wage or retirement pension, provided that the military supplements stipulated in the Minister of Finance Decision No. 4/1 dated 10/1/2023 are adopted. The Council of Ministers requested the Ministry of Finance to prepare the necessary draft law to open financial appropriations to cover the expenses resulting from the approved increase.

The Council of Ministers also requested, in its aforementioned decision, that the study of the salary correction draft law prepared by the Civil Service Board be completed by a deadline no later than the end of March 2026, and that this law provide for an increase in salaries as of 1/1/2027 to become 30 times, i.e., equivalent to 50 percent of the value of those salaries in the year 2019.

The Current Situation

In light of the foregoing, the Ministry of Finance prepared the draft law related to the six multipliers, and the Minister of Finance presented it to the Council of Ministers in its session held on 30/4/2026, where the council approved the draft law and the draft decree referring it to the Parliament according to the proper procedures. We are fully confident that this project will be given its due legal course, as quickly as possible, after the living conditions of public sector employees and retirees have become pressing, indeed suffocating, requiring urgent rescue steps, especially after the additional burdens recently imposed and the accompanying new price hikes.

And due to the escalation of voices opposing granting us the approved increase and exaggerating about the exchange rate fluctuation, it is important for us to clarify to public opinion that this increase is not 6 salaries in the conventional sense of the term "salary," but rather 6 parts of a salary that shattered due to the monetary collapse into 60 parts, and we only have 1/60 of it left, having lost 59 parts. After several reviews, we now have 13 parts of the salary, and if we add to them the six parts subject of Council of Ministers Decision No. 2 dated 16/2/2026, we reach 19 parts out of 60.

In Conclusion

Saying that we receive a salary is an inaccurate statement in the current situation, as we receive shreds of a salary: we rely on these shreds, currently 13 times, to secure the necessary living requirements for ourselves and our families, whose bill has increased at least 60 times under a customs dollar that the government raised 60 times, and to pay taxes and fees that have increased by more than 90 times due to successive legislations. It would have been fair if the increase in the value of the customs dollar, taxes, and fees were accompanied by raising salaries by the same proportion. However, since the matter was done in the known manner, where steps to impose burdens accelerated and steps to grant rights slowed down, continuing this approach cannot be classified under the description of concern for public funds and monetary stability, but rather it is in fact a persistence in overlooking a described injustice.

Therefore, adding the six multipliers has become necessary and urgent in the current living situation to protect social security and safety. This addition is nothing more than a recovery of parts of a shattered salary that will not become a full salary except by restoring all its lost parts. Our eyes remain on the government's commitment to its Decision No. 2 dated 16/2/2026 that salaries become 30 times as of 1/1/2027, i.e., 50 percent of their value in the year 2019, in preparation for gradually restoring this full value according to what was previously stated above.

Proposals

While granting rights to those entitled is an important aspect, the more important aspect is restoring order to the salary and compensation sector, where we notice in the public sector two administrations: one like an oasis, and another like a desert, which has negatively reflected on the principle of social solidarity that requires prevailing among all in bearing the burdens of the country's economic situation.

In this context, we propose: When granting the six multipliers, it is of utmost importance to set a minimum and a maximum that applies to the total value of all multipliers (i.e., the basic salary and current multipliers together with the new six multipliers) and not only to the value of the new six multipliers. Thus, the financial burdens would be lighter on the treasury on one hand, and on the other hand, the increase would go to the people who actually deserve it.

Adopting the effective salary scale and grade structure when conducting any new contract or appointment, in any position and without any exception, provided that after determining the legally entitled salary for the person concerned, this salary is multiplied by the same number of multipliers in effect on the date of conducting this contract or appointment.

Reinstating, as of the beginning of the new fiscal year on 1/1/2027, the maximum ceiling for compensations paid from public funds, taking into account for the purpose of calculating the aforementioned maximum the basic salary of the person concerned along with the multipliers.

The steps we propose above are simple and available, and constitute a promising start in terms of rationalizing spending, activating controls, and restoring order to the salary and compensation sector."