Casino du Liban Syndicates: Syndicat des croupiers du Casino du Liban (SCCDL);* Syndicat des employés du Casino du Liban (SECDL)**

Founder

SCCDL: Tony Chartouni.

SECDL: Yousef al-Ra'i.

Leader

SCCDL: Current leader : Jacques Khoueiri (1998-2015) 4th mandate.

Former leader: Bernard Bou Kara (? - 1998)

SECDL: Current leader : Hady Chahwane (2011-2015) 2nd mandate.

Former leader : Boutrous Freim (? - 2011).

Spokesman

SCCDL and SECDL: No spokesman. In case of absence of the President, the vice-president represents the union.

Ideology & Goals

The official position:

SCCDL: No declared political affiliation. Refusing to give us details about the political affiliation of the SCCDL, Jacques Khoueiri told us : “Politics is everywhere, this is Lebanon”.

SECDL: No declared political affiliation. “A trade union stands for the employees, without exceptions” Hady Chahwane told us when we asked about the political affiliation of the SECDL.

The field analysis:

Despite the official discourse, our field work research highlighted an important influence of the Lebanese Forces and of Aounists Zuama' (notables) of Kesserwan region on both the SCCDL and the SECDL. While in the SECDL the Amal Mouvement (AM) seems to be directly represented since a few employees in the non-gaming sector are Shiite and close to the AM, in the SCCDL, its influence is mostly due to the pressure of the board of direction on the trade union’s work. More than one of the elected representatives of the employees in both unions are, in fact, part of the board of direction too.

Now, since Intra Investment Company (IIC),1 which holds 52% of the actions of the Casino, seems to be the property of Nabih Berri, the Speaker has the last word concerning the nomination of the board (while the nomination of the CEO is a direct prerogative of the President of the Republic since IIC officially belongs to the Lebanese Bank).  Also if the IIC is not directly owned by the Speaker of the Parliament (the CEO of the IIC is Mohammad Chaeb), our sources converge in saying that the AM controls the IIC and consequently the majority of the board of direction.

The double office of some elected representatives of the union, which are at the same time unionists and members of the board, seem to be quite capable of creating a direct line from the AM into the SCCDL and SECDL also when no AM representatives are elected in the unions. This analysis is corroborated by some facts : the political, internal conflicts between the AM and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) we witness today, seem to have - or to have had - a direct impact on the trade union’s work. In particular, the layoff of 191 employees of the Casino at the end of January 2015, seems to be linked to the strike of the contract workers of the Électricité du Liban (EDL) of the last 4 years. Relying on the first part of an inquiry concerning the struggle of the contract workers of the EDL (2011-2015), we are led to believe that the dismissing of 191 employees of the Casino at the end of January 2015 could be read as part of a revenge of the Speaker on his 8th March “allies” of the FPM who fought his recruitment program in the EDL (For more details about the strike of Casino's employees in the end of January 2015 see the section “Notable events” of this profile).

Modes of action

The official discourse:

Actions are firstly conducted by legal means : by negotiating with the board of direction and, in case of lack of an agreement, by filing a claim to the Ministry of Labor. Protests like strikes, sit-ins, etc. are taken into consideration only after previous permission by the Ministry of Labor. This, at least, is the official discourse of the presidents of SCCDL (Jacques Khoueiri) and of SECDL (Hady Chahwane).

The field analysis:

Between 1958 and 1990, which means prior to the reopening of the Casino in 1996, many protests seem to have been organized in response to the work conditions and the rise of the wage of salaries, but our sources weren't able to quantify the number of demonstrations.

Between 1996 and 1998 (our sources are inaccurate about the exact dates), SCCDL and SECDL called for a strike in response to the rise of salaries. On this occasion Jacques Khoueiri, who was at the time part of the board of the SCCDL, was laid off along with other two colleagues and successively reintegrated thanks to the intervention of a notable of the Kesserwan region.

2015 : a second, spontaneous protest of dismissed employees was supported – but not organized - by the two trade unions in the end of January 2015. The protest consisted of closing the doors of the Casino preventing clients to step in, and of organizing a sit-in (with tents) in front of the Casino (see the “notable events” section for an analysis of the events that brought to the strike).

Strategy

Between 1958 and 1990 the SCCDL work have been quite effective according to our sources. Many forms of negotiation have characterized the trade union’s work. Dialogue with the board of direction have been privileged, but a certain number of strikes have been organized by the union. Collective actions brought to a gradual rise in salaries and to the access to - or to the amelioration of - social protection for the employees. Our sources weren't able to be more accurate concerning the nature, the number and the dates of the protests.

Between 1996 and 2005 (year of the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon) the trade union’s work was dormant and not effective. The presence of the SCCDL and SECDL was mostly considered as a formality by Syrian authorities that controlled the Casino. Nonetheless, talks concerning the lightening of work schedules and better salaries for the employees were achieved. The major aim reached by unions in this period is the obtention of a quota on the earnings of the slot-machines for the employees. Yet, little outcomes came from the talks since the trade unions could not count on a direct political support at the time. The political affiliations in the SCCDL (overwhelmingly FL and FPM),2 and in SECDL (for the Christian majority mostly FPM and FL and for the Shiite and Sunnite minority mostly AM and FM) were dissimulated, especially from the FPM and FL supporters.

After 2005, the FPM and FL supporters took an active part as decisionmakers in the unions. The union's boards were reorganized by political quotas.  Starting from 2005, the demands carried by the unionists could be politically supported – and sometimes controlled – by local and national notables.

Effect on public policy

We can not really speak of effect of the actor’s actions on “public” policy. The struggles fought by the two Casino du Liban trade unions aim at internal, and often materialistic goals concerning the status and the condition of the employees in the company more than at a more general change in public policy. Despite a strictly intramuros activity, a strike of Casino's employees has, nevertheless, reached the attention of the policy makers and opinion starting from January 2015. The strike began after the dismissal of 191 employees the 27th of January. On this occasion, the employees, partly supported by the unions, obtained a very lucrative agreement concerning their indemnities on the one hand and the reintegration of some 50 workers to their positions on the other (see “notable events” section for details on the strike).

The major aims reached on this occasion are :

1- The indemnities : $125,000 from 1 to 6 years of service in the company; $175,000 from 6 to 15 years of service; $250,000 from 15 or more years of service. In other words, the indemnities go from 30 to 40 months of salaries, whilst the labor code settles the indemnities on a range that goes from 1 to 12 months of salary according to various criteria including the age and family situation of the dismissed employee. This agreement sets a legal precedent into the company.3

2- The reintegration of 50 of 191 dismissed employees at theirs posts.

Major aims reached concerning work condition and statute into the company :

1 - Work hours passed from 8 to 6 per day.

2 - Work days passed from 6 days of work and 1 of leave per week to 4 days of work and 3 days of leave per week.

3 - Medical care and social security of Casino's employees passed from 90% to 100% cover (this 10% difference was previously paid by the employee and is now to the charge of the Casino).

4 – Casino's employees always took a bonus over the earnings of the company. The bonus was indexed at 80% for the employees of the gaming sector and is now indexed at 135%.4 

5- Some salary raises. Last rise of salaries from 700$ to 900$ was around 2010 (bonus excluded). Here too, our sources were inaccurate.

Supporters 

Regional and international supporters: No official, regional or international network directly supports the SCCDL and the SECDL. Yet, the members of the board of the trade unions are elected on a political basis also when officially chosen by adherents through direct, democratic elections : “Members of the board of SECDL and SCCDL are elected on a political basis : when the time of elections comes, the political parties compete - as usual - through their representatives in the Casino and, in the end, when the notables have found a deal, a president and a board are chosen”.5  

Political support: The major political parties supporting – or we should say competing – to control the SCCDL and the SECDL seem to be : The LF and the FPM. We already spoke of the indirect influence of the AM on the trade unions (See “Ideology and goals” section for a more precise description of these dynamics). The FPM and FL’s influence appears quite clear if we look to the leadership : SCCDL has had a LF president since 1998 while SECDL has a FPM one since 2011.

Fundings: If a political funding exists - and we can not assert it - this network is informal. The only official financial support is the one of the adherents who pay 5 thousands Lebanese Lira per month to the SCCDL.

Constituency

Total of employees:6

Total in the gaming sector: 600, among them 350 employees of Casino and 250 employees of ATDC

Total in the non-gaming sector: 750, the employees of the IIC work in this sector. We can not be precise about repartition between the employees of the Casino and the employees of the IIC, but the statistic should be around 300 IIC's employees and 350 Casino's employees.

Daily workers: numbers are not available.

Total : 1350 employees.

Adherents to the SCCDL:

Total of potential adherents to the SCCDL (gaming sector): 600 (no legal term prevents ATDC's employees to join the SCCDL).

Total of the adherents: 45%. This statistic grows to 95% if we only consider Casino's direct employees. SCCDL does not allow ATDC's contract workers to join the union.

Adherents to the SECDL:

Total of the potential adherents to the SECDL: 750 (no legal term prevents IIC's employees to join the SECDL).

Total of the adherents: 40%. This statistic grows to 85% if we only consider Casino's direct employees. SECDL does not allow IIC's contract workers to join the union.

Notes on the confession of the employees : while in the gaming sector we find only Christians employees (gamble is prohibited in Islam), in the non-gaming sector we find workers belonging to every and all confessions. Unlikely, we could not estimate the percentage of workers by confession, neither by political lines.

Status

Active.

Website

Not provided.

History

History of CDL trade unions: Casino's history can be divided into two main periods : between 1958 and 1990 on the one hand, and the period that goes from 1996 to nowadays on the other. In fact, the Casino closed for a six years period between 1990 and 1996. Now, in the perspective of this template, what interests us is particularly the evolution of the work relationships, of the division of labor and, consequently, of trade union’s workings. In the first period, it is worth to highlight that the main work figure in the Casino was the croupier. Little complementary services were offered until the reopening in 1996.

History of the SCCDL: The “Syndicat des croupiers du Casino du Liban” was founded in 1972 and remained the only trade union untilthe reopening of the Casino. Until 1996, SCCDL mostly represented the croupiers, who were the enormous majority of the employees into the Casino, but workers employed in other services (reception, security, etc.) were also represented. Until 1996, the SCCDL was, in fact, also called the “Syndicat de gestion” in the jargon of the employees.

History of the SECDL: Following the six-year closing, the CDL was renewed and reorganized : new services were offered to the clients like theatrical performances and the possibility to dine into luxuries and updated glamorous restaurants. This led to the recruitment of new staff and, therefore, to a different division of labor into the company. The renewal of services was accompanied by the creation of new work figures, which led to the evolution of work relationships and required a new regulation in the division of labor. The “Syndicat des employés du Casino du Liban” was founded in order to represent this new class of employees working in the services : reception, theater, food & beverage, parking and security.

Notable events 

The SCCDL directly organized several protests in its history (1972-1990 and 1996-2015). As for the SECDL, it never directly organized collective actions. Most of the talks and protests organized by the trade unions aimed at attaining materialistic goals for a better remuneration and better social conditions for the Casino's employees. None of the demonstrations organized, however, reached the public attention on a social or on a political level before January 2015.

The most notable protest that Casino du Liban has experienced wasn't, anyway, directly organized by the SCCDL or by the SECDL, but began as a spontaneous strike of 191 employees who reacted to their layoff. That protest, in response to the dismissal of 191 employees, started on the 27th of January and ended on the 2nd day of February 2015.

The mass layoff of January 2015:On the 27th of January, the direction of the Casino du Liban informed 191 employees that they were dismissed. In reaction, a six-day protest, which ended on the 2nd of February, spontaneously began. The actions of the employees mainly consisted in preventing the clients from stepping into the Casino, in cutting the road that leads to it and in setting up tents at the entrance of the building in order to symbolically show the media in which condition fired workers found themselves in, after the loss of theirs jobs and salaries.

The board of direction of the Casino du Liban justified its decision of a mass layoff on the basis that the dismissed employees simply did not come to work. From one day to the other, and without any previous warning, 191 employees received the message that follows: “Due to your lack of discipline and your irregular attendance at work, hence your lack of productivity at the Casino du Liban company, it has been decided to consider you dismissed from work at your full responsibility as of the evening of Friday, January 30, 2015”.7

Our field research established that :

• The “no show” phenomenon did not concern all 191 employees, which means that only a very small part of them was actually skipping work (approximately ¼ of the 191 sacked employees)

• Skipping work has been a very popular attitude in the company, which not only means that the “no-show” phenomenon was popular, but also that it was allowed and, sometimes, promoted or even “required” by the same employers.

So, why this dismissal ? Or, more precisely, why this dismissal now ?

It is clear that the problem of the (lack of) productivity of those employees can be only a part of the answer since the largest part of the dismissed workers was going to work as usual, as was done by most of them during years of service.8 We will try here to put some others missing pieces together in order to better understand this layoff and subsequent protest:

1. If the lack of productivity cannot, alone, explain  the reasons of this layoff, a more general necessity of a spending review and of a rationalization of the budget is surely a priority of Casino du Liban nowadays. The CDL revenues faced a 6% decrease in 2014 alone,9 and this trend will not change without a substantial reform. For instance, fieldwork shows that the CDL is outsourcing fake services to “phantom” companies in exchange of political “favoritism”. Dismissing employees looks like a more profitable way to make economies than to lose political support.

2. Before the layoff, between 2014 and 2015, 360 workers have been recruited : comprising some 280 daily workers who were already working at the Casino, and some 80 workers representing a political quota for the major Lebanese parties. From this perspective, dismissing some employees appears more like a will to create – if not to renew - the political clientèle than like a budget necessity.

3. The Casino du Liban layoff affaire could be linked to the political confrontation that has emerged in regards to the Électricité du Liban recruitment program in the last 4 years. An ongoing research shows that the dismissing of the 191 employees could be part of a more general revenge of Amal Movement on its Future Patriotic Movement allies who fought the recruitment program proposed by the staff of the Speaker Nabih Berri.

Clientelism paradox:

It is not possible to quantify the number of employees recruited through notables’ “strings pullings”. Anyway, recruitments by political quotas have been done in the Casino ever since. One of the “recommended” workers told L'Orient le Jour that he was never allowed to work, even though he had a computer science degree. He was told to simply not work even if he was willing to do so. What is interesting is that, even if he wasn't working, he does not justify the decision of his sacking since nobody ever asked him to. He considers he had what we could call a “moral right” to be payed, a right resulting from his political recommendation or, at least, from the position of the person who made him hired into the Casino.

The protest:

The Casino's employees spontaneously protested against the decision to lay off 191 of them by preventing the clients to step into the building, organizing a sit-in and cutting the road that leads to the Casino's building (a six-day protest).10 The SCCDL together with the SECDL retrieved, but actually supported, the insurgence speaking for the employees. Also if the SCCDL and the SECDL hijacked a protest they did not organize, their support was eventually effective and fruitful. Thanks to the mediation of the unions and of their political supporters, the employees obtained the reintegration of 50 workers and a very lucrative agreement touching upon the indemnities of the dismissed (see “Effects on public policy” section for precise data about the indemnities).

* In Arabic : "نقابة موظفي نادى القمار في كازينو لبنان"

** In Arabic : "نقابة موظفي كازينو لبنان". During the interviews, actors used the French translation we reported here when referring to these unions. This is why we opted for French and not for English in the translation.

• 1. IIC's employees work in the non-gaming sector.
• 2. The employees working as croupiers at the Casino du Liban belong to Christian confessions for gamble is forbidden in Islam. This data can help to explain the FL and FPM monopole at the head of the SCCDL during several years.
• 3. N.B. Daily workers, who were not dismissed, are excluded from the agreement since it only concerns contract workers of Casino du Liban.
• 4. N.B. As to the employees of the non-gaming sector, it was indexed at 17% and is now indexed at 80%.
• 5. Interview with Hady Chahwane, president of the SECDL : 17-04-2015.
• 6. In addition to the employees directly employed by the Casino du Liban, other workers are employed in the Casino by subcontractor companies as contract workers or as daily workers. We find :
  - Contract workers of the private Abela Tourism Development Company (ATDC) which are employed in the gaming sector as croupiers.
  - Contract workers of the private Intra Investment Company S.A.L. (IIC) which belongs to the Lebanese Bank. IIC holds the 52% of the actions of the Casino du Liban. Contract workers of IIC are employed in the non-gaming sector.
  - Daily workers (مياومون) without a legal statute.
  As for the contract workers of ATDC and IIC, SCCDL and SECDL do not allow them to join the unions also if no specific legislation precludes them to do so. No trade union exists in the companies they are working for.
  As for the daily workers, their statute is simply not legal, which prevents them joining any trade union.
• 7. "Casino du Liban in Crisis after 191 Contract Employees Fired", Naharnet, English, January 27th, 2015, available at: http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/165030
• 8. Many of the sacked employees worked in the Casino during 20 years or more.
• 9. "Rien ne va plus pour 191 salaries du Casino du Liban", L'Orient le Jour, French, January 28th, 2015, available at: http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/908390/rien-ne-va-plus-pour-191-salaries-du-casino-du-liban.html
• 10. "Employees protest Casino du Liban mass layoffs", The Daily Star, English, January 17th, 2015, available at:http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2015/Jan-27/285509-employees-protest-casino-du-liban-mass-layoffs.ashx.