Tripoli workers protest Sayrafa exchange rate with bank sit-ins

BEIRUT— Protestors carried out sit-ins in front of a number of banks in Tripoli to protest their implementation of Banque du Liban’s decision to pay salaries in dollars. Banks are reportedly paying at the Sayrafa exchange rate, which prices the dollar at a higher value than that traded on the black market, causing a devaluation in salaries.

Here’s what we know:

•  A large number of employees in several sectors carried out a sit-in in front of the main branch of a bank in al-Gemayzat, Tripoli, at the invitation of the trade unions and employees of Kadisha and Electricity du Liban, with the participation of the President of the Federation of Trade Unions and Employees in the North, Shadi Al-Sayed.

•  “Today we stand by the workers and employees of Kadisha … and [against] the seizure of salaries. In addition to what people have been subjected to from policies of the Central Bank,” Sayed said.

•  Talal Hajar, the head of the workers and employees union of the Kadisha electricity company,, denounced the implementation of “circular 161, where the exchange rate difference is paid out of the pockets of employees,” asking, "Does the governor of the Banque du Liban want to pay the exchange rate difference and reduce its value at the expense of employees?”

•  Protesters promised “continuous action until the injustice against employees stops.”