·
·
Lebanon
The Association of Public Administration Employees announced a "warning strike on Wednesday and Thursday, April 29 and 30," warning of "escalation steps if the government continues to ignore the rights of workers under all their designations — whether in the general administration, municipalities, the state employees' cooperative, or other public administrative institutions similar to the general administration."
The association said in a statement: "Based on what was issued by the Minister of Finance, who confirmed the government's current inability to pay the raise approved on February 16, 2026 — six times the salary and an increase in family allowances — while affirming that employees' entitlement to it remains intact; and based on what he said about the financial situation of the treasury in the context of the war; and because the Association of Public Administration Employees bears responsibility for finding solutions appropriate to the financial reality; and since the entitlements that employees receive prior to Decision No. 2 dated February 16, 2026 had their credits allocated and revenues secured in the 2026 budget; and as the Minister of Finance spoke of a financial surplus at the end of 2025 and at the start of 2026; and given that there has been a surplus in revenues and liquidity in the last three years; and since the government imposed some immediate taxes in its Decision No. 2 dated February 16, 2026, including 300,000 Lebanese pounds on each can of petrol to cover the new increase for the public sector; and since the Minister of Finance confirmed during the discussion of the 2026 budget proposal in parliament that there is secured financial coverage to provide 4 times the salary to public sector beneficiaries — all of this before the approval of the petrol tax and container fees; and based on the Minister of Finance's statement that the state collects 35 million dollars per month from the revenue of the new petrol tax, without mentioning the revenue from new container fees; and since these revenues are additional to what was estimated in the 2026 budget and had been earmarked to cover the increase for the public sector, the Association of Public Administration Employees affirms at this critical stage the following immediate urgent demands, without ignoring the basic demands mentioned in previous statements:
1 - Raise the transportation allowance to 1,500,000 Lebanese pounds due to the high cost of fuel and the increased cost of transport to reach the workplace.
2 - Amend the price adopted for the fuel ration allowance issued in Decree 13020 from 1,500,000 pounds to 2,350,000 Lebanese pounds.
3 - Begin paying family allowances at their new value issued in Decision No. 2 dated February 16, 2026.
4 - Provide a financial assistance grant, renewed monthly based on the revenue the treasury collected from the taxes imposed under the pretext of providing the raise to the public sector."
