- 17:30
Labor Day, celebrated on May 1, offers little cause for celebration this year in Lebanon.
How can workers rejoice when they’re trapped in a cycle of triple-digit inflation—despite some studies, curiously detached from reality, suggesting otherwise? The purchasing power of their end-of-service benefits, steadily eroded since 2019, is now little more than a memory, vanishing amid government inaction and employer indifference.
The state and the private sector, two pillars of the economy, appear locked in a bubble, deaf to the alarm bells of a workforce running on empty.
An Economy at a Standstill
Lebanese employers routinely point to the “paralysis” of the economy—inflation, collapsed consumption and the absence of credit—to justify their refusal to raise wages. But this explanation often masks a deeper unwillingness to assume responsibility. Meanwhile, the state continues to stall on any meaningful measures to spark recovery.
Calls for economic support and a “return to normal” grow louder, but no serious reassessment of Lebanon’s failed economic model is even on the table.
The long-awaited reform of the end-of-service indemnity system, which would shift toward a more equitable pension scheme, remains stalled. As announced by National Social Security Fund (CNSS) Director Mohammad Karaki, the proposal seems destined to gather dust in administrative drawers for years to come. Retirees who left the workforce after 2019, and watched their hard-earned rights melt away, must now rely on their children or fragile family networks. For the rest, there is only waiting. Not for reform, but perhaps like characters in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, for a salvation that never arrives.
A Stalemate Amid Social Crisis
The debate over wage increases has reached a deadlock. The long-promised “fair solution for all,” referenced by Minister of Labor Mohammad Haidar, remains elusive. The General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL) is demanding a new minimum wage of LBP 50 million (around $550), while employers and business groups insist on capping it at $300.
Behind these numbers lies a deeper issue: any raise would require parallel adjustments in social benefits, allowances and education grants for workers—something neither employers nor the state appear prepared to tackle.
Hidden Wages, Eroded Rights
CGTL President Bechara Asmar accused employers of manipulating the system by registering nearly 60% of their workforce with the CNSS at the minimum wage—while in reality paying much more. This results in dramatically reduced benefits for workers, whose end-of-service calculations are based on underreported figures.
And the state is no exception. Asmar also highlights another harmful practice: for the past six years, public authorities have been providing informal allowances to government employees, deliberately excluding them from the base salary. This maneuver conveniently circumvents severance pay and social security obligations, amounting to a form of legalized evasion. Thousands of public employees, trapped in this system, remain silent for fear of losing their only source of income.
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