Inside Télé Liban's Beirut headquarters, Aug. 11, 2023. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)
BEIRUT — Télé Liban employees have ended their open-ended strike after negotiations with caretaker Information Minister Ziad Makari were reported to be “positive” and workers were able to “attain part of their demands,” a source close to the minister told L’Orient Today Saturday.
“The minister has been able to guarantee some of the demands for which they have been striving,” the source said. “Salaries and compensations that have been stuck with the Lebanese state since 2021, for example, will officially be paid back, thanks to Makari’s efforts.”
For his part General Labor Confederation leader Bechara al-Asmar Saturday announced the end of the open-ended strike, from Télé Liban’s offices, noting that television “must return to its former state.”
Télé Liban is Lebanon’s only public television broadcaster and employees have been on strike on and off since the economic crisis spiraled out of control in 2019. Worker's their salaries lost over 90 percent of their value since the lira collapsed.
Controversy among employees
An employee at Télé Liban, who asked to remain anonymous for fear that her speaking to the media would jeopardize her receiving compensation, told L’Orient Today that there is controversy among the employees.
“Not everyone is convinced that we should end the strike,” she explained, “however, we want to give the minister a chance, since he seems to be pushing for us to receive our compensation, and due salaries.”
Lebanon's Information Ministry "temporarily" shuttered Télé Liban Friday. The move came as employees remained on strike and were demanding improved wages, a source at the Information Ministry confirmed to L'Orient Today.
Télé Liban has not been airing its regular TV programs for several days, the source added, with employees protesting the deterioration of working conditions and the severe drop in their salaries due to currency depreciation.
Télé Liban was founded in the late 1950s, and was initially fully owned by two private companies — Compagnie Libanaise de Télévision (CLT) (channels 7 and 9) and Télé-Orient (channels 5 and 11) — before the two merged in 1978 in a deal that saw ownership equally split between the public and private sectors. The state acquired the private sector shares in 1996 and since then the station has been completely state-owned.