Passengers at Beirut International Airport. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Technicians of the Beirut Airport meteorological service announced on Wednesday that they will go on strike from the morning of July 18 until their working conditions are improved.
Here’s what we know:
• In a press release, the technicians denounced the fact that their salaries are still paid in Lebanese liras and that they have not received transport allowances for more than four months, while the “employees of the airline companies within the airport are paid in dollars.”
• The employees also complained that the airport’s general manager did not respond to their demands following the postponement of their earlier strike, scheduled for June 15.
• Given this context, they have decided to suspend their work from July 18 until their working conditions are improved.
• Last Tuesday, Lebanese air traffic controllers announced that they will halt their night shifts starting Aug. 1 due to worsening working conditions at the airport.
• Middle East Airlines had announced a partial flight schedule modification for 11,12 and 13, July 2022 due to an “operational unforeseen reason.”
• Flights had also been rescheduled last week.
• In 2021, an anonymous source at the Beirut International Airport had told L'Orient-Le Jour that 30 percent of the staff had left their jobs. Civil Aviation Director General Fadi El-Hassan had denied in October 2021 reports that the Beirut airport is at risk of having to suspend nighttime activity due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.