Under the title: “We will not allow the people to be impoverished… the dignity of the Lebanese is a red line,” the General Federation of Lebanese Trade Unions will hold a press conference today, Friday, at three in the afternoon, to announce its position rejecting the recent tax package approved by the government, and to determine the nature of the union movements it intends to undertake to confront what it describes as “oppressive taxes.”
In this context, the head of the General Federation of Lebanese Trade Unions, Maroun Al-Khouli, told , that what the government did against poor citizens, workers, and people with limited income “is not an ordinary financial measure, but rather a described social crime,” considering that imposing more taxes and fees in light of this economic collapse constitutes a heavy burden that cannot be borne.
Al-Khouli pointed out that the conference will include a legal and constitutional explanation of the violations involved in these taxes, in addition to sending clear messages to the government and the parties participating in it, and determining the form of future union action. He stressed that “oppressive taxes will not pass, even if all political forces come together to pass them,” describing the tax measures as “arbitrary, destructive to people, and wrong financially, economically, and socially.”
He particularly criticized the increase in gasoline prices, stressing that it would inevitably lead to comprehensive inflation, as any increase in fuel prices would lead to an increase in the cost of transportation by no less than 50%, as was quickly evident in service tariffs. He pointed out that the cost of transportation is included in the pricing of about 70% of goods in the market, which, according to his estimates, will lead to general inflation that may reach 30%.
He explained that a citizen whose salary does not exceed $300 per month will practically lose about a third of his income due to these indirect taxes, warning that these policies will not address the financial deficit, but rather will lead to stifling the economy, declining consumption, and declining sales, leading to a deeper economic contraction and stagnation.
Instead of imposing new taxes on the most vulnerable groups, Al-Khouli believed that the solution lay in recovering state resources from the corruption system rooted in various sectors, especially state property and commons, stressing that collecting their real allowances could save billions of dollars for the treasury.
He considered that these facts are “not a secret,” but rather they are numbers known to ministers, advisors, and the prime minister, but they are being deliberately ignored “with suspicious complicity,” as he put it.
In conclusion, Al-Khouli stressed that the press conference will put dots on the letters, and will begin what he described as the “final confrontation” between the people and the protectors of the corrupt system, stressing that the dignity of the Lebanese is not an item for collection, and that the Union will not stand idly by in the face of policies that exacerbate poverty and deepen the social gap.
