  Let $f: S \longrightarrow C$ be a surjective morphism with connected fibers
from a smooth complex projective surface $S$ to a smooth complex projective
curve $C$ with general fiber $F$. In this paper, we develop a more general
version of the slope inequality for data $(D, \mathcal{F})$, where $D$ is an
arbitrary relatively effective divisor on $S$ and $\mathcal{F}$ is a locally
free sub-sheaf of $f_{*}\mathcal{O}_{S}(D)$. We see how the speciality of $D$,
restricted to the general fiber, plays a role in the results. Moreover, we
compute some natural examples and provide applications.
