Bassil said Bayram's decision is a violation of the Labor Code and the constitution. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Free Patriotic Movement head Gebran Bassil denounced Thursday the decision taken by Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram that allows Palestinians to work in an array of trade-union regulated professions previously restricted to Lebanese nationals.
Here is what we know:
• “The decision of the Minister of Labor to allow Palestinians and stateless persons to exercise dozens of professions reserved for the Lebanese is a violation of the Labor Code and the constitution,” Bassil wrote on Twitter, criticizing Bayram who is affiliated to Hezbollah, an ally of the FPM since 2006.
• Bassil called on the professional syndicates to appeal the minister’s decision to the Council of State. “Such a decision will not pass,” he wrote. “We will not allow the Lebanese to be relieved of their jobs in these circumstances.”
• Palestinians still face discriminatory employment policies and although Palestinian employees pay into the National Social Security Fund coverage, they do not benefit from this fund to its full extent.
• The labor minister’s decree, as reported by the NNA, will allow “Palestinians born in Lebanese territory and officially registered with the Interior Ministry” to work in professions from which they were previously excluded.