BEIRUT: Teachers and groups of workers geared up to stage a strike Thursday to demand higher salaries as the government decided Wednesday to remove the value added tax on red gasoil in a clear attempt to alleviate the pressure from labor unions and political parties.

Government and private sector employees as well as private and public school teachers have been urged by some labor unions to observe a strike to protest the government’s recent decision to raise the monthly minimum wage from LL500,000 to LL600,000.

Many political parties, including Hezbollah, the Kataeb party (Phalange) and the Free Patriotic Movement voiced support for the strike.

“We call on all teachers in high schools, private and public schools and institutes, and employees in public administrations to strike and participate widely in the demonstration, to be held 11 a.m. Thursday, [which will be] heading to the Grand Serail to announce rejection to the humiliating wage increase decision made by the government,” a statement issued by Union Coordination Committee Wednesday said.

Many private school teachers also affirmed their participation in the strike: “Tomorrow [Thursday] is a general strike day at all private and public schools,” head of the private school teachers’ union, Nehme Mahfoud said in a statement.

The Cabinet had approved last week a plan to raise the minimum wage to LL600,000. The decree stipulated that salaries under LL1million be increased by 30 percent up to a LL200,000 cap, and salaries above LL1 million by 20 percent up to LL275,000. The Cabinet also agreed to hike the yearly education allowance to a maximum of LL1.5 million from its current LL1 million level.

But the UCC, General Labor Confederation and almost all labor groups rejected the deal outright, arguing that it failed to meet their aspirations and fell short of last October’s wage increase which they also rejected.

Despite the strike being primarily a teachers’ action, some labor unions intend to participate in the strike and protest. The Association of Public Employees, a part of the UCC, had already announced last week its participation, calling on public sector employees to take part in the strike.

Castro Abdallah, president of the National Labor Confederation – a GLC rival union – said his group would participate in the strike and demonstration Thursday.

The UCC, a grouping of teachers’ and employees’ unions, upheld their demand entailing a 60 percent increase for salaries under LL1 million, 40 percent on salaries between LL1 million and LL2 million, and 20 percent on salaries above LL2 million. They said pensioners and public employees working on contract should benefit from the wage hike and asked for bolstered social benefits, expressing support for a plan for publically funded universal health care coverage for all resident Lebanese suggested by the Labor Ministry.

Meanwhile, head of Lebanese Industrialists Association Jack Sarraf said his group will suspend negotiations with labor groups – a reaction he said was in response to Thursday’s strike.

“Why go ahead with the strike and amplify demands that will eventually cause increases in school tuition fees and obstruct teaching for a day,” he said, adding that most businesses were in confusion over how to implement the wage increase.

The private sector has agreed to the wage increase decision, which includes an article that says employees who received “consensual” salary increases from employers since Jan. 1, 2010 may not be eligible for the raise.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet cancelled the VAT tax on red gasoil, saying the measure was permanent. The decision came at the request of Energy and Water Minister Gibran Bassil. The Cabinet said the removal of the tax would be effective as of Monday, adding that it would also draft a law to cancel the tax on red gasoil so it can be endorsed by the parliament. The minister also discussed Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi’s 2012 draft budget but postponed deliberation on this bill until the next session. Information Minister Walid Daouk admitted many ministers expressed some reservations about Safadi’s draft budget.