Lebanese President Michel Suleiman succeeding in bringing an end to the weeklong wave of strikes that had paralyzed government bodies, public schools, and a large number of private schools by promising the Union Coordination Committee that he would meet the demands of the civil servants and teachers. This came after the union strikers conducted roaming sit-ins and demonstrations demanding the implementation of a previously sanctioned government resolution that would guarantee a wage hike for civil servants and teachers.

On Saturday night [March 2] the Union Coordination Committee decided to respond to the president’s pledge by announcing Sunday that it would stop the strikes but continue to hold demonstrations, sit-ins and general assemblies for three weeks.

At a session on March 21, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet will search for ways to find the funding to pay for these wage hikes. On Saturday Mikati held a meeting with the Union Coordination Committee in hopes of suspending the strike, saying, “Perhaps you are in the right, but we are not able to meet your demands … We must understand the effects these wage hikes will have on other sectors, beginning with financial considerations and inflation, and on through the impact it will have on the private sector. These wage increases are not independent of the rest of the economy. We must take into account and understand the big picture.”

A few days ago Mikati told Al-Monitor, “Currently there is no way to secure the funding needed to implement the wage hike resolution that the government passed a year and a half ago.” He pointed out that the growth rate in Lebanon since that date had decreased from 5% to 1.5%.