London - ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies called on the public utility company Ogero Telecom which manages the telecommunications and Internet sector in Lebanon, to urgently meet the demands of its employees regarding an increase in their salaries and social allowances, in addition to securing the necessary funds to run the company.
The London-based think tank said that it is following with concern the start of an open-ended strike by Ogero company employees after the company failed to respond to their demands follow the severe economic crisis in Lebanon.
The employees complain that their salaries do not cover the cost of movement from home to work and vice versa. Additionally they have been deprived of a series of rights and benefits such as sick leave, tuition reimbursement, paid annual leave, and inclusion in the health fund
The government affiliated Ogero Telecom has approximately 2,500 employees. The company, however, enjoys administrative independence and manages the basic infrastructure for all communications networks, including mobile, and internet services.
According to a statement reviewed by ImpACT, the General Union of Telecommunications Employees and Workers in Lebanon said, “the open-ended strike is due to the company’s failure to increase salaries, as well as the government's failure to secure the necessary funds for the employees’ transportation allowance and their social assistance.”
The Union also confirmed that “the strike includes non-attendance and halting the company’s services and maintenance work all over Lebanon.”
The statement highlighted the “risks of [the government’s] failure to secure the necessary funds for operating the telecommunications sector, such as fuel cost, equipment maintenance, etc.”
Moreover, it stated that “the open-ended strike is an objection to the failure to amend Article 49 of Lebanon’s Telecommunications Law No. 431 to which the fate of about 2,500 families relates, before its implementation. Also, the failure to secure the necessary funds for running the public utility and transportation allowances and social assistance funds according to the issued decrees and as approved by the Council of Ministers, in addition to the Ministry of Finance’s reduction of salaries and wages instead of increasing them to suit the high cost of living. This strike is also based upon our demands to have our salaries on an equal footing with those working in the mobile sector, in accordance with the Banque du Liban circular No. 151.”
The statement concluded, “Our patience has run out and we have had enough of how the largest productive institution on Lebanese territory deals with its employees. This company has never stopped providing its services despite all the security and economic circumstances, as well as through the Covid-19 pandemic, until this date.”
Ogero employees carried out a symbolic sit-in in front of the office five days ago, in protest against the deplorable living conditions and salaries they receive, with the decline in the purchasing value of the Lebanese pound and the high price of essential living consumables.
The employees complain that their salaries do not cover the cost of movement from home to work and vice versa. Additionally they have been deprived of a series of rights and benefits such as sick leave, tuition reimbursement, paid annual leave, and inclusion in the health fund.
The Lebanese government did not comment on the Ogero General Union’s statement. For over two years, Lebanon has been suffering from a severe economic crisis, which has led to a financial and livelihood collapse, a record rise in poverty, and unemployment rates, as well as a shortage of medicine, fuel and other basic commodities.
In 2019, the Attorney General of Lebanon had charged the director of Ogero Telecom with wasting public funds, embezzlement and unjust enrichment.
ImpACT International stressed that Ogero and the Lebanese government must adhere to the principles of collective bargaining, good faith, and respect labour legislation. We urge them to listen to the employees’ legitimate complaints and start a serious dialogue that paves the way for a satisfactory response to their demands.
ImpACT also called on the Lebanese government to take action and solve the crisis of Ogero’s striking employees because of its repercussions on the country. Lebanon is obligated to fulfil its commitments per the International Protection of Wages Convention, which it ratified in 1977.
ImpACT warned that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Lebanon is a party, guarantees the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, as well as the right to strike.