Libya's Teachers Expand Pay Protests Into Nationwide Open-Ended Strike

Teachers across Libya have turned their long-running pay protests into a nationwide open-ended strike, shutting public school classrooms and pressing the internationally recognized government in Tripoli to overhaul a salary system unions say has left educators struggling to make ends meet. The walkout, which began with scattered sit-ins in mid-September and hardened into a coordinated national campaign by late September, has left hundreds of thousands of students out of school and prompted other labor organizations to threaten sympathy action.

The dispute traces back to September 13, the day Libya's school year was scheduled to begin. Instead of returning to their classrooms, teachers staged sit-ins outside schools and government buildings in the capital, Tripoli, demanding higher and more consistent pay. Two weeks later, the country's teachers union escalated the effort, declaring a nationwide strike that has kept schools shuttered from the western region administered by the Government of National Unity, or GNU, to the eastern territory controlled by forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar.

On Sunday, several unions representing other sectors warned they would join the strike unless the government opened negotiations over what they describe as a worsening cost-of-living crisis. Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah convened cabinet members and senior officials, including Finance Minister Rashid Boughofa, to weigh a response, focusing on a proposal for a unified pay system covering all sectors and state institutions. That proposal, however, faces a lengthy path: raising teacher salaries would require a government decision, parliamentary approval and banking procedures that officials have not yet detailed.

Teachers say their complaints go well beyond base pay. They point to shrinking salaries, unpaid arrears, inadequate benefits and deteriorating school buildings. Muftah Khalifa, a school principal, told Al Jazeera Arabic that educators were protesting the government's failure to answer repeated calls for higher and unified wages, health insurance and protection both inside and outside school grounds. Teachers who spoke with Reuters described shortages ranging from a lack of computer labs to desks too broken to use, with staff and parents frequently paying for equipment out of their own pockets.

At the center of the standoff is a demand for a single, standardized pay scale that would narrow the wide gaps between workers in different sectors. Libya's unions threw their weight behind that call on Sunday, arguing that any new system must account for changes in the cost of living and the fluctuating exchange rate between the Libyan dinar and the US dollar. Retirees have separately pressed for the implementation of earlier agreements on pensions, adding another layer to the labor unrest.

The unions also demanded that no "arbitrary or punitive" measures be taken against workers, retirees or union leaders over their protest activities. In addition, they urged Libya's attorney general to move quickly against any corruption tied to public spending, framing their campaign as a matter of accountability as much as wages.

The structural roots of the crisis are visible in the numbers. According to an education budget brief prepared by Libya's National Council for Economic and Social Development with UNICEF, 91 percent of the education budget is consumed by salaries, leaving only a small share for school costs such as equipment. The sector employed 560,000 people in 2024, including roughly 270,000 teachers in basic and secondary education — a striking figure for a country of about 7.5 million people, where the state remains the dominant employer.

Libya's GNU passed Law No. 4 in 2018 to regulate salaries, allowances and benefits for education workers. The legislation also provides for health and social care, insurance against illness and occupational hazards, and protections for teachers and their families. In September 2021, the government ordered pay rises intended to align with the law, but it did not resolve the problem of salary arrears, which remain a central grievance.

The escalation followed a failed round of talks. Thursday's strike announcement came after union chiefs and teacher representatives from western Libya walked out of a meeting convened by the Ministry of Education. Ashraf Abu Rawi, head of the Tripoli teachers union, told Al Jazeera that the unions concluded authorities were not treating their demands seriously. The union has since warned the ministry against reopening schools, saying any such move would only deepen the confrontation.

The government has acknowledged that the teachers' demands are legitimate while insisting that students' rights must also be protected — a balancing act that has so far produced no breakthrough. Parents appear largely sympathetic. Osama Abboud, a father of two pupils, said the teachers' demands were justified and that parents backed them, though he urged educators to consider their students' futures and keep working while pursuing their goals.

The strike is unfolding across Libya's political divide, affecting both the western region governed by the GNU and the eastern region under Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army. In April, the rival legislative bodies on both sides agreed on a unified budget for the first time in more than a decade, a rare moment of coordination that now appears strained by the labor crisis. Libya has struggled with economic and political instability since the 2011 uprising that ended Muammar Gaddafi's rule, and the standoff highlights how unresolved governance fractures continue to shape daily life.

Even if the government settles on a unified pay plan, implementing it would require navigating a fragmented institutional landscape, securing parliamentary sign-off and managing the banking procedures needed to disburse funds. For now, classrooms remain empty, students are marking time, and Libya's unions are signaling that their patience — and the government's room to maneuver — may be running short.