BEIRUT — Daily workers at a power plant in Sur stopped working and blocked entry to the plant Friday to protest their working conditions, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• The daily workers announced that they are “regrettably shutting off the power plant” and warned that the strike could escalate into demonstrations “in the streets” and that they extend to power plants in other regions if their demands are not met.
• The protesters noted the “expiry of their contracts and owed wages” as motivations for their strike and demanded “better contract terms and fixed contracts as well as raises in their salaries and transport amenities.”
• The protesters included their current strike under the “umbrella of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL)”, which had threatened to go on strike to demand increases in wages. The plant’s daily workers also claimed that their demands were relevant to workers across different sectors in the country, citing the difficulty in reaching their jobs due to transportation costs amid fuel price increases.
• Yesterday, Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced an increase in the daily transportation fee from LL24,000 to LL64,000 for public employees along with the provision of additional salaries in November and December ranging between LL1.5 million and LL3 million.