More than seven years after the collapse of public sector salaries, state employees are still negotiating the cost of commuting to work. The Public Administration Employees Association is demanding a daily transportation allowance equivalent to 10 liters of gasoline. The Finance Ministry has yet to settle the matter, discussing only modest increases as Finance Minister Yassine Jaber’s advisers reportedly explore several options. Association representatives met with ministry officials, who proposed an allowance equivalent to five liters of gasoline a day. The association rejected the amount as insufficient to cover commuting costs. Speaking to Al-Akhbar, association Secretary-General Walid Al-Shaar described the meeting as positive, citing a “very serious effort” and a willingness to negotiate from the minister, his advisers and the ministry’s director-general. He stressed that the association was not seeking escalation for its own sake, adding that “we will respond positively to any positive steps.” But transportation allowances are only part of a broader problem. Following years of sporadic salary and compensation increases, public employees now receive a mix of basic pay, allowances and additional payments that vary across ministries, administrations and public institutions. The association wants a new, unified salary scale that incorporates increases granted since the financial collapse into basic salaries, rather than continuing to treat them as separate benefits. Al-Shaar said the goal was not necessarily to restore salaries immediately to their 2019 levels, but to establish a unified and reasonable baseline that could be raised gradually. The association wants a new, unified salary scale that incorporates increases granted since the financial collapse into basic salaries, rather than continuing to treat them as separate benefits. He added that salary reform must also address disparities in benefits and compensation across the public sector. Some employees at regulatory bodies, administrative boards and public institutions receive substantial payments, while others earn meager salaries. The association is calling for a comprehensive review and harmonization of these benefits and says it is ready to help the government draft the new salary scale. Until the scale is approved, the association will continue closing public administrations every Friday. Al-Shaar stressed that these closures should not be confused with strikes. Friday closures are a permanent measure tied specifically to the salary-scale demand, with the latest marking the fourth such Friday. Thursday’s strike was a separate action, and further escalation remains an option. The association is also demanding merit-based promotions free from political interference, a stronger role for the Civil Service Board and improvements to government buildings, some of which lack even basic working conditions, including electricity. As negotiations over transportation allowances continue, comprehensive salary reform remains unresolved. Instead, each demand is met with another allowance, allowing supplementary payments to accumulate without addressing the underlying need to restructure and restore public sector salaries. This is an edited translation for a report published in Arabic.
