Power workers’ sit-in ends

Contract workers at Electricite du Liban (EDL) ended their eight-month-long sit-in today. The doors of the EDL headquarters that they had been occupying are now open for business.

All contract workers will be reinstated in stages, after an examination is held by the Civil Service Council. Out of 1,800 contract workers, 897 will be directly employed based on their grades and priority of vacancies, a source close to EDL said. An additional 120 workers will replace workers who passed the retirement age, bringing the total number of employees to be directly hired to 1,017.

Other workers who succeed in the public exam will also be hired within a span of two years, to replace employees who will retire during this period.

Workers who do not pass the examination will join the service providers: BUS, KVA, and NUEC.

The agreement was struck between the Service Providers Workers Committee, headed by Lobnan Makhoul and Minister of Agriculture Akram Chehayeb, representing Parliament Member Walid Jumblatt, Advisor Ali Hamdan representing Speaker Nabih Berry, Advisor Cesar Abi Khalil representing Minister of Energy and Power Arthur Nazarian, and EDL General Director Kamal Hayek.

Part time workers had staged the sit-in and locked down the EDL protesting a law enacted by Parliament to hire contract workers under the age of 56 after undertaking the required examinations. The law stipulates that those who are not accepted as employees at EDL for failing the exam will be relieved of duty and given two months of compensation for each year of service.

Workers over the age of 56, who do not have the right to take the exam, are also entitled to two months of compensation for each year of service.