BEIRUT (AFP) — The Lebanese government on Tuesday announced it will increase the minimum monthly wage by 130 dollars, on the eve of a general strike over price rises and amid a deepening crisis with the opposition.
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi told reporters that the government decided late Monday to raise minimum salaries from 200 dollars to 330 dollars, and also agreed on special bonuses for civil servants and retired public sector workers.
But the main trade unions federation, the General Confederation of Workers in Lebanon (CGTL) which is planning Wednesday's action, said the moves did not go far enough and protested that the bonus did not apply to the private sector.
"The government's decisions are insufficient, ambiguous and merely a question of form," CGTL chief Ghassan Ghosn told AFP, adding that the general strike would go ahead as planned.
The CGTL also organised strikes and protests earlier this year calling for the minimum wage to be tripled to 600 dollars.
According to the consumer association, prices have risen by 43 percent over the past 21 months, while the official unemployment rate stands at 10 percent. Independent estimates put it at 20 percent.
Central bank governor Riad Salameh also said last week that the inflation rate had risen by 10 percent, due to a rise in oil prices on international markets, food prices and the weakening of the dollar against other currencies.
Lebanon has been without a president since November because of a standoff between Siniora's Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition supported by Syria and Iran.
The crisis is the worst since the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
