Collective Action
Hariri hospital employees demand salary payment outside the hospital
BEIRUT: Employees of Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the center of Lebanon's battle against coronavirus, held a sit-in Friday to protest nonpayment of their salaries and delayed wage hikes.
Employees at the sit-in demanded they receive a salary raise in line with the salary scale law passed by Parliament in 2017.
Despite the coronavirus outbreak, employees said that they still have not “received their full entitlements,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
Employees said that administration have not taken their rights seriously “to the point of recklessness and disregard.”
Protests at public and private hospitals have been staged multiple times over the past months, demanding the state pay its dues, as the health sector suffered directly from a financial crisis in the country.
Earlier in March, employees at Rafik Hariri University Hospital had declared an open-ended strike to protest unpaid salaries and poor working conditions. The medical center has been the heart of the fight against the virus since the first case was confirmed on Feb. 21.