Electricite du Liban contract workers closed on Monday the
company’s entrances in Mar Mikhael in Beirut, vowing to escalate their measures
if the cabinet failed anew to meet their demands.
According to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), the contract workers
stressed that they are set to intensify their endeavors throughout the day.
They noted that it’s the first day since the beginning of their
strike three months ago that “no employee was allowed to enter the company’s
headquarters.”
Internal Security Forces heavily deployed near the company as the
full-time employees staged a counter-protest blocking the road in the direction
of Gemmayzeh.
Head of General Labor Confederation Ghassan Ghosn told As Safir
newspaper that the “Confederation voices its support to the demands of the
contract workers.”
The daily reported that Ghosn’s interference in the crisis
indicates that the negotiations between the employees and the political
officials reached a dead-end.
“The efforts exerted by the GLC aims at reaching a comprehended
mechanism for the crisis,” Ghosn stated.
As Safir said that an extraordinary meeting was held at the GLC
headquarters on Sunday between Ghosn and a delegation from EDL contract workers
committee.
Sources revealed that “the ongoing negotiations didn’t resolve the
problem of the number of contract workers expected to be permanently employed.”
The controversy, sources said, is focusing on the full-time
employment of 1,090 workers instead of 1,800.
As Safir said that the gatherers agreed to form a committee headed
by Ghosn to negotiate with the competent authorities.
The workers are demanding their full-time employment, the company
to pay their June-July salaries and compensations.
Energy Minister Jebran Bassil had previously proposed to allow 700
contract workers to stand for an official exam, out of some 2,500 employees,
while the rest would become employees at private companies under a three-month
probation period as EDL can’t contain all of the employees.
The thorny issue affected the ties between the March 8 allies as
the Free Patriotic Movement lashed out at Hizbullah and Speaker Nabih Berri’s
AMAL movement after the parliament approved a decision taken by the joint
parliamentary committees to permanently employee the workers instead of
adopting Bassil’s proposed plan.
The workers will have to sit for a closed exam, which will be held
by the Civil Service Board.
The Christian lawmakers boycotted the parliament to protest the
approval of the joint parliamentary committees’ suggestion arguing that the
permanent employment of those workers would destabilize the sectarian balance
at EDL as around 80 percent of them belong to non-Christian sects and most of
them support Berri, who is a Shiite.
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http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/48262
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