Labor group to stage warning strike

Lebanon's General Labor Confederation announced on Thursday its decision to stage a warning strike on November 13, to be followed by other steps until the government responds to their demands for better living conditions.

The one-day strike was announced after a meeting of the union's executive committee headed by Ghaneem Zoghbi, chief of the labor union.

A statement issued by the group demanded immediate steps be taken by the government towards improving living conditions and tending to the economic crisis "which threatens to have dangerous repercussions on more than one level."

The statement criticized Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's tax, fiscal and development policies, "which have proved their failure by the government's own admittance." It threatened to escalate action unless the government responded to the union's demands for amending rent laws, improving salary scales, doubling end of service indemnity as well as other demands.