On Monday, June 22nd, staff from public hospitals across Lebanon held protests in front of hospital entrances at the request of the Government Hospital Workers Union.
In their statement, the union demanded that the government fuse public hospital staff under the management of the Ministry of Health and pleaded for urgent financial assistance to government hospitals, reported The Daily Star.
Hospital staffers demonstrated for the financial rights of medical workers, who still have dues from the government since 2019, and their rights to the series of ranks and salaries.
The union, along with some hospitals’ employees in the protests, also inquired about the staff’s share from the donations the government received to fight the pandemic. Where did the money go?
Additionally, public hospital staff are paid in Lebanese liras, noted journalist Kareem Chehayeb: “For much of 2019, they could have converted to USD at the $1-1500 rate. Retroactive payment [without] a raise is basically slashing salaries by over 60%.”
In a statement, MP Walid Al-Baarini expressed his full solidarity with the employees of government hospitals in Lebanon “who are providing a lot in this difficult stage, meanwhile, their efforts are not appreciated by those concerned in the Lebanese state.”
This includes the Rafik Hariri University Hospital that has been instrumental, since the beginning, in the response to the coronavirus cases in Lebanon.
