Conflict Incident Report

Lebanon marked Labor Day with a rally celebration organized by the Lebanese Communist Party, as officials congratulated workers on the occasion.

The rally started with a march from Barbir Square to Parliament in downtown Beirut with dozens of workers and supporters raising red banners and the party flag.

The party’s secretary-general, Khaled Hadadeh, lashed out in a speech at Lebanon’s politicians, accusing them of holding the country a hostage to foreign powers.

“[Our] politicians are not free in economy or politics, they wait for foreign powers to choose a president for them,” he said, referring to two failed attempts to elect a new president.

“This nation is ours and we will fill the [power] vacuum,” he said.

Ghassan Ghosn, the head of the GLC, also spoke, expressing hope that workers will see their demands met.

“Labor Day comes this year as we are calling for social justice... and we can sense the joy of the occasion because it is accompanied with a struggle for workers to get their rights,” he said.

Sidon MP Bahia Hariri also congratulated Lebanon's workers “who build, manufacture, grow and seek to provide a livelihood for their families.”

For his part, Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel tweeted his congratulations to the Lebanese public and hoped this year would bring job opportunities for the unemployed.
Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil also voiced support for the public sector wage hike in a tweet.
“On Labor Day, we confirm our support for the righteous demand [that politicians] endorse the salary scale, and that workers with limited income should not bear the burden [of funding it],” his twee said.
The Union of Palestinian workers also held a sit-in in Tyr, south Lebanon, outside the headquarters of the Red Cross calling for endorsing civil rights for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Protesters demanded the right to own property and the right to work in unionized fields, from which Palestinians are currently barred.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/May-01/255056-lebanon...