Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Wednesday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
 
An-Nahar
LL200,000 pay raise for 1 million earners and LL300,000 for those who earn up to LL1.8 million
GLC suspends strike as private sector rejects [deal]
 
Following negotiations Tuesday at the presidential palace, the Grand Serail and Parliament, Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced a settlement to the salary increase issue – basically a compromise between the demands put forward by the General Labor Confederation and the private sector.
 
The result was that while the GLC voiced reservations, it did suspend a nationwide strike planned for Wednesday. The private sector, however, remained committed to Mikati’s announcement – setting the ceiling as they deem appropriate.
 
Despite the announcement that the strike was called off, which came around midnight, hundreds of thousands of students and teachers at both private and public educational institutions will stay home Wednesday after they had decided to join the work stoppage.
 
Tens of thousands of students at the state-run Lebanese University were already suffering from an ongoing teachers’ strike.
 
As-Safir
Aoun, unions protest ... private sector rejects, GLC suspends strike
Pay raise settlement: a prelude to a new crisis
 
Just a few hours ahead of the general strike set by the General Labor Confederation for Wednesday, a "status quo" pay raise deal emerged in Cabinet, only to quickly turn into a prelude to a new crisis in the wake of the political implications within the majority camp, as ministers from Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement rejected the settlement and the various unions as well as the private sector voiced objections to the agreement.
 
But while GLC president Ghassan Ghosn voiced reservations, he went on to make a late-night statement announcing suspension of the strike.
 
Al-Mustaqbal
Government approves pay raise
GLC suspends strike after deal was rejected by private sector
 
Following a long day of negotiations that witnessed ups and downs between those who were with the deal and those who were against it, Cabinet approved pay raises Tuesday, ending Lebanese fears of a general strike the GLC threatened to hold Wednesday.
 
This move by the GLC reminds us of similar actions by the GLC, particularly the one taken May 7, 2008, when the GLC suspended a strike right after they were informed of a deal.
 
Al-Akhbar
GLC disappoints workers, and teachers go ahead with strike
 
Employees whose salaries exceed LL1.8 million won’t be getting the cost-of-living salary increases. This is what emerged from 11th-hour talks after which Mikati informed the GLC and the private sector that he had decided to raise the minimum wage to LL700,000.
 
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has kept his promise to Mikati: No workers’ strike Wednesday. The lengthy Cabinet meeting ended at 10:15 p.m. Tuesday. It authorized Mikati to sow a compromise with representatives of businessmen and officials. An announcement emerged just before midnight.
 
However, five ministers from Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc opposed the deal.
 
The GLC has as usual disappointed the teachers’ associations in the private and public sectors as well as public employees.
 
The private school teachers’ union rejected the proposed deal and decided to go ahead with Wednesday’s strike.