Collective Action
Electricité du Liban workers' union strikes and stages sit-ins at the public utility’s institutions to protest the lack of renovations to its headquarters in Beirut and the increased powers granted to private electricity service suppliers
The Electricité du Liban workers' union called on its members to stage sit-ins on Thursday and Friday at all of the public utility’s institutions after a meeting Tuesday to protest the lack of renovations to its headquarters in Beirut and the increased powers granted to private electricity service suppliers “at the expense of the workers,” the state-run National News Agency reported. The union’s first point of contention was the delay in renovating EDL’s headquarters after it was damaged by the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port blast “to secure a place that is suitable for employees and that is appropriate for providing services to citizens, before the onset of winter.” The union had on Nov. 15 discussed the renovation with Energy Minister Walid Fayad, who “had promised the restoration would take place within days” and “not weeks,” the statement comments. The union also expressed disapproval over the “expanded powers granted to private electricity distribution companies (DSPs)” which comes at “the expense of EDL workers.”