Demonstrators burn tires in front of the headquarters of Banque Du Liban in Tripoli, February 20, 2023. (Credit: Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Municipality employees in Tripoli and Minieh and other localities in Lebanon's north blocked access to the headquarters of Banque Du Liban (BDL) in Tripoli on Monday morning, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the north reported.
Unhappy that their salaries would now be paid at the new official rate of LL15,000 to the dollar, public sector employees protested.
A decision announced by BDL in early February declared that public sector employees could withdraw their salaries at the LL38,000 rate until the end of the month. This rate is lower than that of the BDL's Sayrafa platform (LL44,100 per dollar on Friday) and that of the parallel market which is fluctuating near the LL80,000 per dollar mark.
The protesting municipal employees have blocked access to the BDL and prohibited any entry or exit of the building, said L'Orient's correspondent.
Police officers arrived at the scene as protestors burned tires.
According to the state-run National News Agency, the head of the Northern Workers' Union Chadi Sayyed stated his intentions to “stand by the workers until their rights are recovered and their demands heard."
"We hope that the Governor of the BDL Riad Salameh will act quickly to resolve this issue," Sayyed added.
Banks began an open strike last Tuesday and violence has since broken out in Badaro and Tripoli.
Bank branches were ransacked and burned by protestors affiliated with the collective The Cry of the Depositors.
Members of the collective also held a sit-in at Horsh Tabet, in front of the home of the Association of Banks head Salim Sfeir.
Additional reporting by Michel Hallak