EDL Contract Workers Set Stage for Showdown by Moving Protest Tent

A protest tent erected by Electricite du Liban’s contract workers in the company’s courtyard in Mar Mikhael was moved to the building’s reception hall on Saturday as a first step in their stepped up efforts to confront EDL’s decision to start collecting electricity bills under police protection.

The workers burned tires and garbage bins near the firm’s headquarters on Friday after an EDL official backed by security forces was able to transfer the bills outside the headquarters.

The contract workers’ protest for the past three months threatened the financial collapse of the state-run firm over their rejection to collect bills and carry out maintenance work.

The workers are demanding their full-time employment and the payment of their salaries of the past three months.

Parliament approved a bill that would allow the workers to become full-timers but Christian blocs, including the Change and Reform bloc of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, objected to it for creating a sectarian imbalance in the institution.

The draft-law is awaiting approval by parliament’s secretariat.

There are fears of escalatory measures on Monday after the committee of contract workers urged all bill collectors and contract workers from across Lebanon to come to the company’s headquarters and prevent the transfer of the bills.

But Interior Minister Marwan Charbel appeased fears that police would resort to force to end the protest.

He told An Nahar daily that there would be more tension if security forces seek to confront the contract workers.

“Eventually, there would be a political solution because electricity does not belong to any party, it’s for all people,” Charbel said.

The minister added that the solution to the electricity crisis is not only the responsibility of the interior ministry or security agencies, but lies in an agreement among politicians to end their differences on the issue.

The sit-in of the EDL workers has caused divisions within the March 8 coalition allies - The FPM, Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal movement and Hizbullah.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, who is an FPM official, accused the speaker of “violating the protocol” by not proposing the discussion of his plan at parliament to allow only 700 contract workers to stand for an official exam, out of some 2,500 employees.

His suggestion calls for allowing the rest to become employees at private companies under a three-month probation period as the company can’t afford employing all the workers.

However, Berri and Hizbullah support hiring all of them.