Public-Sector Workers Strike

The Kassioun newspaper reported on June 8 that workers from a state-run construction company had gone on strike over unpaid salaries.



The employees downed tools on June 2 because they had not received their May salaries.



Many state-run companies have halted production and are not paying their workers because they do not have the money to buy raw materials, Kassioun reported.



The pro-government newspaper, which is published by the Communist party, blamed the government’s new liberal economic policies and general neglect of the companies.



Thousands of workers and their families have been affected, the newspaper said.



The official newspaper Tishreen reported on June 9 that hundreds of workers in several publicly-owned companies have not received wages for two months.



At a meeting of the council of the Damascus workers’ union on June 2, the head of the metalworkers’ union was quoted as saying workers in some companies were in a “terrible” situation.



"Our companies have foundered, and all the economic conditions are working against them," he said.