Lebanon’s latest strike misses the point

It is dubious whether any good will come of the strikes today by various public sector unions, called in response to the Lebanese cabinet’s intransigence and delay tactics in passing the new salary scale law. On the one hand, if the unions get what they are asking for, the government will be even more broke, and in all likelihood, inflation will rise and threaten our already weak economy with recession and deeper unemployment. On the other hand, with the country’s rising prices and falling real wages, the unions have a point. It is also against the basic principle of equity in government that those employed in the private sector should get a pay adjustment earlier this year (even if some are still waiting for it), while those in the public sector are put at a disadvantage. More photos from the strike For far too long successive governments have gotten away