BEIRUT — Employees of the contracted private company operating Beirut port’s container terminal, the Beirut Container Terminal Consortium, on Tuesday continued their open-ended strike for the second day to call for increased salaries.

Here’s what we know:

    • Employees started an open-ended strike on Monday to protest poor living conditions, a spokesperson for the employees told L’Orient Today. These workers, who are presently paid in Lebanese lira and whose salaries have not been adjusted in light of the lira’s devaluation and soaring inflation, are demanding a pay rise.

    • Employees want their salaries in dollars “since the [state-owned] Port of Beirut makes money in dollars,” the spokesperson said, adding that their company is underpaid, because the port administration is making payments in Lebanese lira.

    • “Out of the 16 cranes that the company operates [to load and unload container ships], only four are now operating, while the rest need maintenance,” the BCTC employee spokesperson said.

    • The strike that started yesterday and is ongoing today has completely halted the company’s operations. If this situation continues, the Port of Beirut will not be able to unload containers from arriving vessels, as BCTC is the only entity responsible for this task. Thus, imported products, from foodstuffs to furniture, will not make it to the market.

    • At the moment, six employees representing their colleagues are meeting with the head of Beirut port, Omar Itani, to come up with solutions.