Amid a wave of union and labor movements taking place in Lebanon and threatening vital sectors to stop working, the bakery sector decided its position, stressing the continuation of normal bread production and not participating in the strike scheduled to be implemented on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In this context, the head of the Federation of Bakeries and Ovens Syndicates in Lebanon, Nasser Sorour, denied the sector’s participation in the strike, stressing the bakeries’ keenness to secure a living for citizens and considering that “bread is a red line.”
Sorour explained that the ovens will continue to operate normally as long as flour, wheat, diesel and other supplies are available, despite the sector incurring huge losses due to the high price of diesel.
This situation comes in light of the increasing pressure that the ovens sector is experiencing as a result of the high cost of production. The Union had previously warned that the rise in prices of raw materials may inevitably lead to an increase in the price of a loaf of bread, noting that pricing is subject to a platform agreed upon with the Ministry of Economy to determine the actual cost of production.
The position of the ovens sector intersects with the escalation of union protests. The Public Administration Employees Association announced a strike on Wednesday and Thursday, while land transport federations and unions will hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to determine their escalation steps following the expiration of the deadline granted to the government to implement the agreements on compensation and entitlements. In the same context, the head of the General Labor Union, Bechara Al-Asmar, gave the government until next Saturday before making a final decision regarding the strike.
