EDL Contract Employees Block Highway, Set Garbage Containers on Fire
Electricite du Liban’s contract employees blocked on Monday the highway near the headquarters of the company in Mar Mikhael and set garbage containers on fire, causing bumper-to-bumper traffic.
TV footage showed scores of employees standing in the middle of the highway, bringing traffic to a complete halt.
Some protestors also set garbage containers and tires on fire in a courtyard in the company HQ.
Almost half an hour later, they reopened the highway.
Earlier in the day, the employees closed all the entrances to the building after Energy Minister Jebran Bassil refused to meet with a committee formed by them to follow up their case.
Bassil called instead for holding a meeting between the protestors and the parliamentary administrative and justice committee to discuss their demands.
The minister condemned to LBC television the contract employees’ practices, saying that their actions reflect a minority of EDL’s workers.
“We are trying to find a solution to their problem,” he added.
“The employees know that we are not responsible for their current situation,” he stressed.
“I do not think that the contract employees will obtain their demands through such practices. We are improving their conditions from bad to good,” Bassil stated.
“EDL needs these employees,” said the energy minister.
The employees have been protesting for the past four weeks against the cabinet’s failure to approve their full-time employment.
Some employees have been contract workers for over 20 years.
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