The file for increasing the salaries of public sector employees is still pending, as the Council of Ministers decided to postpone the discussion of the salary amendment project for a month and a half, in order to link it to the preparation of a public sector restructuring project, which will be used in studying the costs of the increase. In contrast, the Public Administration League announced the extension of the strike it called for, and the cessation of work until Sunday, January 25, 2026, and the escalation of its movements in the street in coordination with the “League Gathering,” which includes retired military and civilians, education and public administration leagues, judicial assistants, and contracting committees.
In this context, the head of the General Labor Union, Dr. Bechara Al-Asmar, explained that “the negotiation phase with the state is ongoing regarding the increases, and there are successive meetings. Three salaries were proposed to us, but we insist on six salaries to be paid monthly in addition to the current salaries or what is called ‘assistance’.”
Speaking to “Lebanon 24,” Al-Asmar pointed out that “the government was supposed to discuss the subject of the project of the head of the Civil Service, Nisreen Mushmushi, which stipulates that from now on, increases will begin, and what is called ‘assistance’ will be integrated into salaries until 2030, when the employee returns to receive approximately 77 percent of the value of his salary that he was receiving in 2019, and this has not happened.”
He affirmed that “the public sector employee is wronged, so things are moving in escalating directions and implementing strikes at the level of the public sector, judicial assistants, and formal education,” noting that “a meeting will be held in the next two days at the headquarters of the Labor Union to discuss the latest developments.”
Al-Asmar added: “Our demand is clear and explicit, based on the principle of integrating what is called ‘assistance’ into the core of the salary and starting to give acceptable annual increases so that the employee can return to his basic salary that he was receiving in 2019, with the increases that occur or the exceptional grades that are granted every two years.” He pointed out that “things are at a standstill.”
He continued: “We are calling for a solution, and the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, gave a glimmer of hope in the last meeting held with him at Baabda Palace. He asked me to form a committee from all segments of the public sector to develop a plan, as he asked for the first time to chair this committee as a guarantee, and this is unprecedented in the history of Lebanon.”
He added: “We have formed the committee and developed a plan of action with all components of the public sector, and we are waiting for an appointment with the President of the Republic to present the project.”
Al-Asmar confirmed the existence of coordination with the head of the Civil Service Council, Nisreen Mushmushi, “who has developed a valuable project within the framework of administrative hierarchy, improving the public sector, creating new jobs, and developing a new structure and updated salary scales. We are waiting for the state to meet with its agencies that are working at this stage, especially the Civil Service Council, and to discuss its project.”
Al-Asmar stressed that “the work now is to achieve the increases and integrate aid salaries into the core of the salary so that every individual who retires at this stage from the public sector can also obtain compensation that is sufficient for him, whether in the civil, administrative, or military sector, because the military personnel also suffer greatly from this injustice.”
