The demands of employees, according to their sources, include upgrading competencies and financial increases in accordance with the collective labor contract, which was carried out periodically annually.
The employees of the two cellular operators in Lebanon carried out their open strike two days ago, while active sources in the cellular sector confirmed to “Sky News Arabia” that the continuation of the strike by the employees of “Alfa” and “Touch” may bring back the scenario of the possibility of interruption of communications to the fore again, especially if Unaccounted technical faults occurred on the networks.
The telecommunications sector in Lebanon is managed by “Touch” and “Alfa” companies for the benefit of the Ministry of Communications.
A red line and a threat to dissolve the union
Caretaker Minister of Communications, Johnny Al-Qarm, said in statements to local media:
- Disrupting public facilities is a red line, and there are discussions to find legal ways to address the strike crisis of workers in the two cellular telecommunications companies owned by the Lebanese state.
- Al-Qarm held the union of workers in the cellular sector responsible for the strike because it offended the citizen, hinting at the possibility of dissolving the union that announced the strike.
- The Minister of Labor can dissolve the union and request early elections, and at the present time it is not possible to give a salary increase.
- The increase demanded by the union amounts to 20 percent, given that the collective work contract provides for an increase in salaries by 5 percent annually, and they have not received it for 4 years.
- 150 employees have been confirmed in the service, and the salary will be paid 100 percent in dollars sooner or later in the next year and the year after that.
In a related context, the head of the employees of the two mobile phone companies in Lebanon, Mark Aoun, told Sky News Arabia:
- We carried out the strike because the officials did not respond to our rightful demands and threatened us with our livelihood and with the dissolution of the union.
- The citizens, our people, and the officials are the ones who brought us to this situation. In the event of a strike, customer service will stop and the maintenance and repair branches will be closed.
- When the employee does not obtain his right, and some are given part of their rights at discretion, we in the two mobile operating companies Alpha and Touch will go on strike.
- We are employees of private companies and we have a collective contract certified by the Ministry of Labor. We do not ask for aid, and the annual increases that have been suspended since 2018 must be applied.
- We were also surprised, before and after the elections, by increases and promotions according to regions, favoritism and parties. We do not want to object to the promotions of our colleagues, as this is their right, but we demand that all employees obtain their rights as those who received them.
The biggest surprise was the veiled threat to dissolve the union by the Ministry of Labor using the security forces.
The union had issued a statement saying that its movement was a purely unionist demand and had nothing to do with politics.
The statement pointed out that “the union movement of the employees of the “Alfa” and “Touch” companies was not a spur of the moment because the union tried for months to obtain rights that are not new, and the employee has been deprived of them since 2018, declaring that “the employees of the two companies are one body.”
The statement stressed that “the council of the union is elected in accordance with the principles protected by the constitution and the laws in force, and no one’s whims can question its legitimacy and credibility.”
#strike #workers #cellular #operator #companies #Lebanon #threatens #paralyze #telecommunications #sector