Employees of Alfa and Touch gathered during a strike in 2021. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — The employees' union of Lebanon's telephone operators, Alfa and Touch, on Thursday called on the management of both companies to take an immediate decision to give employees their salaries "at their real value in the market," the state-run National News Agency reported.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday evening Alfa and Touch's tariffs increased following an intervention by Banque du Liban (BDL) that raised its Sayrafa platform rate from LL45,400 per dollar to LL70,000. The mobile operators' tariffs are calculated using the Sayrafa rate.
BDL's move came as the Lebanese lira reached a record rate of more than LL90,000 against the greenback on the parallel market. On Thursday morning, the national currency slightly recovered against the dollar trading at around LL82,000.
In its statement, the Alfa and Touch's employees union demanded their management "give employees all their rights and a salary at its full value," without elaborating. This demand was issued "after the recent financial decisions that have affected all citizens," the statement added.
The union said it was ready to "take an appropriate decision, within the legal and constitutional framework" if its demand is not met quickly.
In early December, Alfa and Touch employees went on strike to demand improved working conditions. In September, the same employees observed an open strike to demand a salary increase from caretaker Telecommunications Minister Johnny Corm, which resulted in an agreement, the details of which were not released to the press.