BEIRUT: Deep cracks are beginning to show in a government subsidy deal struck with transport unions Wednesday, with some labor union representatives and analysts claiming that the agreement has alienated the vast majority of Lebanese citizenry.
Critics told The Daily Star Friday that only a select few would benefit from the move, which would see transport workers receive a monthly fuel subsidy of up to LL470,000.
Negotiations that foiled nationwide strikes, planned by two major transport confederations and set to take place last Thursday, were supposed to find comprehensive solutions to surging fuel prices; instead, said the critics, the results were short-sighted and divisive.
“At the beginning, I supported the [transport unions’] strike, thinking that it would lead to a deletion of the gas tax,” said Maroun Khawli, chief of the General Labor Confederation Union, who was present during some of the negotiations between government ministers and the transport unions. “But in the end, they turned against us.”
Transport unions clinched the deal with the Finance Ministry hours before transport workers from across Lebanon prepared to protest at various major cross-routes, a plan that was expected to keep many from going to work, or sending their children to schools.
“[Labor unions] were dreaming and hoping that the deal would meet their demands until the very last minute,” said Notre Dame University professor Louis Hobeika, adding that labor representatives were loath to voice disappointment for fear of appearing to turn against allies in the transport sector.
“The subsidy puts money in the country’s right pocket, and takes more out of the left pocket,” he said.
Deficits will be seriously exacerbated, with roughly 37,000 to 40,000 taxi cabs expected to claim dues – that number swells when unlicensed taxi cabs, difficult to identify, are taken into account – having the likely effect of causing taxes on the general population to rise, explained Hobeika.
Moreover, the subsidies will widen disparities between rich transport companies and small, independent taxi drivers, since companies with several taxis can be expected to rack up large amounts of cash in subsidies, while most taxi drivers receive a single ration.
The government’s actions have been irresponsible, hasty and counter-productive, says Hobeika. It should instead have sought alternative avenues, he said, to extinguishing the fuel crisis: gasoline taxes should be scrapped and financed by increased excise duties on tobacco and illegal shoreline construction; salaries and transport allowances should also be raised.
“There is no country in the world that subsidizes private transport. Only public transport should be subsidized,” said Khawli.
According to Khawli’s calculations, the current subsidy could have paid for a public transport plan – first proposed in 2004 but never implemented – nearly four times over.
The plan stipulated that 250 buses be added to the existing, nearly defunct public transport system, but the current subsidy is worth nearly 1,000 new buses, added Khawli.
His union and others were banking on the fact that caretaker Energy and Water Minister Jibran Bassil had already set plans to delete the gasoline tax in motion, he said. But the transport deal had demonstrated that those efforts would be stalled, and a coalition of unions would do everything in its power to bring about its downfall, he added.
“The decision is unconstitutional,” he said, adding that the country’s legal foundations prescribe that law-making apply “equal treatment,” something the transport deal flies in the face of.
The unions will seek legal recourse, said Khawli, and if that doesn’t work then they will take to the streets mobilizing a populace that he believes to be enraged by the government.
“There are tens of thousands of other workers who earn an even lower income than taxi drivers, on what basis does the government neglect them?”
Still, many on the street are doubtful as to whether the talk will amount to any real action, calling on labor unions to own up to passive stances they have taken during the last few months of fuel crisis.
“Ghassan Ghosn never really dealt with the fuel problem, and he let this very bad deal go through,” said Hussein Abdullah, referring to the chief of the General Labor Confederation – the largest coalition of workers’ unions in Lebanon – against whom his group, “Hillo ’Anna,” or Get Off Our Backs, has waged a vociferous campaign in recent months. “We’ll take to the streets and demonstrate against the group, so that we can inspire others to do the same, and take up economic causes,” he said.