Public Administration Employees Association Announces Extended Closure and Threatens Escalation

The Public Administration Employees Association called on the government to "approve 10 liters of gasoline per day for each employee for every working day," stating in a statement: "At a time when the price of a canister of gasoline reaches $32, the government approved a variable transport allowance for the private sector and forgot public administration workers, proving once again that it lacks even the minimum standards of justice and reform. It is a government that only responds under street pressure. So does it want to push employees into the streets, burn tires, and close roads?"

While noting that it is "a government that does not care about the negative image these actions may bring to the employee and to a public administration that is the backbone of the state," it asked: "How can a government impose on the private sector a transport allowance linked to the price of a gasoline canister, while refusing to implement what it obliges others to do? And where is it from the constant principle that the state is an honest employer?"

It added: "Every day an employee goes to work bears a loss from his daily sustenance; is this the logic of a state? Knowing that giving employees a daily transport allowance equivalent to 10 liters of gasoline costs the state treasury no more than 2,500 billion liras annually, while the state budget exceeds 614 thousand billion. Moreover, the reserve item for bids includes sufficient appropriations to cover this increase. Therefore, the Association reaffirms its previous demands to improve salaries and social benefits, and calls on the government to hasten the approval of a transport allowance equivalent to 10 liters of gasoline daily for each working day. Failure to accept this demand or approving an unfair number of liters will lead to irregularity in official administrations."

In response to the government's neglect of demands, the Association announced "continuing the closure every Friday of each week until the purchasing power of salaries returns to what it was before the crisis. General closure of official administrations and municipalities on Thursday, October 8," confirming that it is "preparing for a central sit-in in Beirut during the coming week, with the timing and location of the sit-in to be determined later."

It concluded by stressing that "the lack of rapid response to the above demands during this month will push the Association to take escalatory steps that may include a complete closure of public administrations until the demands are achieved."