Federations and Unions of the Land Transport Sector held a meeting this afternoon chaired by Bassam Tlais, with the participation of the head of the General Labor Union Beshara Asmar, and the Heads of the Land Transport Sector Federations and Unions in all regions.

Asmar said during a conference that followed the meeting: “The tragedy and collapse experienced by the Lebanese are great, therefore, today we see movements from teachers and day laborers who have neither guarantee, nor family compensation, nor lump-sum payments for transportation, like employees. Noting that the land transport sector, which represent 95 percent of the public transport sector, suffers from many obstacles.”

Asmar considered that “the agreement that was approved at the prime minister’s office in the presence of the ministers of Interior, Public Works, and Finance is fair to the drivers and enables them to continue working.”

He added that he discussed with Prime Minister Najib Mikati “a solution that would secure some of the drivers’ rights, and commitment to the agreement is a necessity, especially that the concerned ministers confirmed the availability of funds for this agreement. He added that Prime Minister promised to refer the file to the Council of Ministers today and assigned the Minister of Works to refer the matter.

Tlais said: “It is shameful that the agreement that was reached with the Prime Minister in the presence of the concerned ministers requires action, and we have done everything we can to make it a success and implement it, and we still warn against implementing it.”

He added: “We decided to declare a general strike on 2, 3 and 4 February to paralyze the country from 5 am until 3 pm on Wednesday, February 2, in all regions and during the 3rd and 4th days at the same time.