Parts of Lebanon go on strike to protest economic conditions

People wait at the almost empty arrival hall of the Rafik Hariri International Airport during a strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 4, 2019. Parts of Lebanon's public and private sectors have gone into a strike called for by the country's labor unions to protest worsening economic conditions and months of delays in the formation of a new government. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People wait at the almost empty arrival hall of the Rafik Hariri International Airport during a strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 4, 2019. Parts of Lebanon's public and private sectors have gone into a strike called for by the country's labor unions to protest worsening economic conditions and months of delays in the formation of a new government. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

BEIRUT (AP) — Parts of Lebanon’s public and private sectors have gone on strike called for by the country’s labor unions to protest worsening economic conditions and months of delay in the formation of a new government.

Friday’s strike was called for this week by the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers, with the backing of the new cross-sectarian Sabaa Party.

Beirut’s port was closed, as were several other state institutions, such as the National Social Security Fund and the electricity company, which had the gates to its compound closed with chains.

Flights stopped for an hour in the morning at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.

However, Mohamad Shukeir, head of the chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture that represent the private sector, said that Friday is a normal work day.