LEBANON: Lebanese workers and union supporters block roads and burn tyres in protest over government policy

Record ID: 338625

  • Title: LEBANON: Lebanese workers and union supporters block roads and burn tyres in protest over government policy
  • Date: 25th January 2008
  • Summary: (W3) CHTAURA, LEBANON (JANUARY 24, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STRIKERS AND POLICE POLICE RUNNING AHEAD OF PROTEST WIDE OF DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING ANT-GOVERNMENT SLOGANS SECURITY FORCES LINING UP MORE OF PROTEST
  • Embargoed: 9th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Employment
  • Reuters ID: LVA3XPPGE2XBDFKS9IJ37TMMNNQW
  • Story Text: Lebanese protesting against the government's economic policy on Thursday (January 24) burnt tyres, blocked off roads and clashed with soldiers but the strike over the rising cost of living remained largely under control.
    In Beirut, the army took extra security precautions with soldiers manning every road and junction and anti-riot police on alert. Some strikers clashed with soldiers in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahieh, Beirut's southern suburb, but the army and riot police quickly contained the situation.
    General transport workers want the government to subsidies fuel costs for them by 15 percent, while agricultural workers are demanding compensation for their losses since the July 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
    Although not a complete general strike, the move was supported by the General Labour Union, which has been calling on the government to pay more attention to workers' needs. The cost of a gallon (4.5 litres) of petrol is around 25,000 Lebanese Liras or roughly 17 U.S. Dollars (USD).
    Union leaders had pledged to keep the strike peaceful as most public buses and taxi drivers stopped work. Those that did not observe the strike were stopped on the road.
    The opposition, which supports the strike, is engaged in a 14-month struggle over power with the government and Lebanon has been without a president since November. Lebanon's rising cost of living and ongoing power outages have several sparked protests in the past weeks, mainly in Beirut's southern suburbs.
    In the east of the country, strikers cut off the main road linking Chtaura to Syria with burning tyres, but authorities later reopened the road.
    In Baalbeck, demonstrators took to the street calling on Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to resign.
    The political conflict between the Western-backed governing coalition and the opposition supported by Syria has weighed heavily on an economy also damaged by bombings, assassinations and a war in 2006 between Hezbollah and Israel.
    Despite that, the economy managed to grow between 2.5 and 3 percent despite the troubles. But a main downturn has been been high inflation rates.
    Inflation reached 4 percent in 2007 and is expected to rise by the same in 2008.
    Lebanon is also heaving under the costs of servicing a public debt equivalent to some 180 percent of gross domestic product.
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