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get rid of this ad| advertise here LebanonWednesday, February 20, 2002 ( 5:03 PM ) Hunter WeeksGLC plans strike on eve of Arab summit 15,000 to march on Grand serail Union calls for raise in minimum wage, transport payments for public sector Sabine Darrous Daily Star staff Stepping up its protests against the spiraling economic crisis, the General Labor Confederation unveiled plans Tuesday to stage nationwide strikes and street demonstrations later in the month, which organizers claim would be bigger than the 1992 action that toppled Omar Karami?s government. Under the plan, in Beirut alone some 15,000 protesters would march on Feb. 28 from the GLC headquarters in Corniche Nahr to the Grand Serail in the Beirut Central District, according to a senior GLC source who has been tapping unions to gauge support for the action.Such a large-scale protest has taken place only twice in recent history, in 1987 and 1992, when Antoine Beshara was the head of the GLC. Given the repercussions on political stability, it was not clear if the government would issue the required Interior Ministry clearance for a protest to take place on the eve of the Arab summit in March. But the GLC source said the protest would be called off only if the government caved in to workers? long-pending demands. According to the source, staging the demonstration at Prime Minister Rafik Hariri?s headquarters, as opposed to outside the Cabinet headquarters in Mathaf, was aimed at holding him personally responsible. The source added that if the government wished to head off the demonstration, it would have to approve several of the GLC?s pending demands ? among them giving private sector workers LL6,000 for daily transportation expenses, similar to the public sector, which got the raise in 1997. The government would also have to allow the Price Indicator Committee to discuss raising wages in line with the increase in the cost of living. According to the source, even if there weren?t an increase in wages, putting this issue on the negotiating table might be enough to ease GLC outrage for a while. The source said that GLC officials may have set this date deliberately to give the government time to find social and economic solutions. However, Ghassan Ghosn, head of the GLC, said Tuesday that the date was set for two weeks from now in order ?to fully prepare and mobilize unions and workers all over the country.? At a news conference following an ?urgent meeting? of the GLC?s executive council, Ghosn listed demands which the body hopes to have fulfilled. He urged the government to allow the Price Indicator Committee to meet to adjust wages across the board, as well as institute a considerable increase in the minimum wage, currently LL250,000 per month for the public sector and LL300,000 for the private sector. Ghosn also called on the government to reconsider ?regulatory decrees? related to the implementation of the value-added tax, and to exempt essential items such as medicine and food prod
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