Summary
A number of public institutions across the country went on strike Wednesday as hundreds of state workers gathered in Downtown Beirut to protest against possible cuts to their wages and benefits as a means of reducing the budget deficit.
Public schools and some other public institutions in the Akkar governorate committed to the strike, according to the NNA, though workers at the Halba Municipality, Halba's water establishment and the local Ogero and Electricite du Liban offices did not participate.
In Nabatieh, municipality workers and public and private school teachers also went on strike.
Public school teachers and municipality workers had called for the strike a day ago after politicians floated the idea of cutting the wages of state employees to reduce the state budget deficit, which was estimated to reach $6.7 billion last year.
Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil assured reporters that the draft budget would not impose salary deductions for public sector workers.
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