Public Administration Employees Union: Approve 10 Liters of Gasoline Per Workday

The Public Administration Employees Union called on the government to "approve 10 liters of gasoline daily for each employee per workday," 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 but forgot the workers in the public administration, proving once again that it lacks even the minimum standards of justice and reform. It is a government that only responds under street pressure. Does it want to push employees into the streets, burn tires, and block roads?"

While noting that it is "a government indifferent to the negative image these actions may project about the employee and a public administration that is the backbone of the state," the union asked: "How can a government impose on the private sector the provision of a transport allowance linked to the price of a gasoline canister, while refusing to implement what it mandates others to do? Where is it regarding the established principle that the state is an honest employer?"

It added: "Every day an employee goes to work, he bears a loss from his daily sustenance. Is this the logic of a state? Knowing that providing employees with a daily transport allowance equivalent to 10 liters of gasoline does not cost the state treasury more than 2500 billion liras annually, whereas the state budget exceeds 614 thousand billion. Indeed, the contingency item for bids includes sufficient allocations to cover this increase. Therefore, the union 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 workday. Failure to accept this demand or approving an unfair number of liters will lead to irregularity in work at official administrations."

In response to the government's ignoring of demands, the union announced "continuing the closure every Friday of each week until the purchasing power of salaries returns to what it was before the crisis. The 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 drive the union to take escalation steps that may include a complete closure of public administrations until the demands are met."