Public sector employees of various categories, whether civilians, military, retirees or contractors, are demanding increases that restore about 50% of the value of their salaries that were in effect before the financial crisis that struck Lebanon in October 2019, in addition to semi-annual increases of 10%.
The purchasing power of public sector salaries has deteriorated due to the collapse of the lira, and wages have lost their value against the dollar significantly, which has negatively affected the standard of living of its workers. However, the final results of approving these justified demands depend on the government’s decision and its financial and revenue capabilities, which is an issue that is still a matter of disagreement between the parties concerned.
It should be noted that consultations are continuing between the Ministry of Finance, the Civil Service Council, and public sector associations to reach an agreement on the ceiling of increases that can be approved for current salaries. The latest information indicates that the government will not amend the salaries and wages of workers in the public sector. The Minister of Finance, Yassin Jaber, will also present in today’s cabinet session a study that includes a vision of how to grant employees an increase in their salaries. The maximum that this study suggests is the disbursement of 4 additional salaries, if the Cabinet approves it, starting at the beginning of next March.
Knowing that the government always stresses that any increase in public sector salaries must be linked to achieving actual financial revenues and financial reforms, especially in light of the opposition of donors and the International Monetary Fund to repeating the experience of the previous series of ranks and salaries that was approved in 2017 without any clear financial cover.
Here the question arises from where will the government secure increases for the public sector?
In this context, financial and economic expert Dr. Bilal Alama said in an interview with “Lebanon 24” that “public sector salary increases are one of the most complex issues in the Lebanese financial situation,” and he says: “The conditions of the public sector did not deteriorate due to the financial and monetary collapse, but rather because it was one of the most important causes of this collapse as a result of adopting for years a policy of corrupting and destroying the public sector through clientelism, corruption, quotas, and not giving the regulatory agencies the necessary powers.”
He points out that “the increases that occurred in the public sector in the recent period were an attempt to distract it, but they remained below the level and without the state’s ability to restore salaries to what they were in 2019.”
“Alama” adds, “The real disaster is that the authority does not know the true numbers and beneficiaries of the public sector,” noting that “the recorded figures for the number of public sector employees are 340,000 employees in addition to retirees with all their titles, and thus the number of public sector employees currently exceeds 445,000 as a result of the chaos and illegal employment that befell this sector, especially after the approval of the series of ranks in 2017 and the violation of the laws that prevented employment at that time.”
He continues: “What is more difficult than that is that all attempts to remove illegal employees after employing them as an electoral bribe did not succeed and even judicial decisions issued in this context were retracted, including the decision issued by the Audit Bureau to stop the expenses of 65 employees who were employed in vocational education and a decision to fine those who were behind their employment, but it was retracted in a judicial precedent.”
He pointed out that “6,000 people were employed in addition to 32,000 employees without job titles and in the form of contracts, and to this day employment is carried out in the form of purchasing a service under the pretext of “need,” which is unnecessary, such as in a country like Lebanon.”
“Allama” confirms that “all of these matters make it next to impossible to give a new series of ranks and correct salaries as necessary, and just as if these increases are approved, it is also impossible for them to go unnoticed without a new economic collapse befalling Lebanon.”
He stresses that “any attempt to amend salaries, approve a series, attempt to correct the increases that were given and include them in the salary core, or set a gradual schedule for correcting wages must be conditional on what is called “restructuring.”
He explains that “restructuring” is based on two basic things: the first is slimming, meaning reducing the size of the public sector, meaning cutting out the surplus without considerations for any party, and second, rationalizing, meaning redistributing the remaining employees clearly and according to the functional laws approved in the ministries and public administrations. Doing otherwise is considered a chaotic act that leads to more corruption, corruption, and oppression of the Lebanese, and its consequences will be disastrous for Lebanon.
Finally, the question remains: How will this crisis actually end? Public sector employees are oppressed and their demands are justified, but the government’s capabilities do not allow it to meet their demands.
