Lebanon is braced for internet blackouts as workers of state-owned Ogero go ahead with their ‘open-ended’ in protest against pay freezes.
Local media reported on Thursday that several Ogero central stations were out of service due to the strike, adding that only six station are now working.
Chairman of the Media and Telecommunications Committee MP Ibrahim Al-Moussawi warned of imminent catastrophe, “may be in days”, due to the strike.
The Ogero strike is the latest in a series of similar protests by civil servants — notably an ongoing eight-month strike by public administration employees — demanding improved compensation amid the sharp depreciation of the national currency.
Ogero employees announced an open-ended strike on Friday to demand better working conditions, following a “warning” strike earlier last week.
On Wednesday, caretaker Telecoms Minister Johnny Corm urged Ogero employees to suspend the strike.
“I do not have the authority to increase the salaries of employees, and the matter depends on a cabinet decision,” Corm said in a press conference on Wednesday.
“Announcing the strike is a hasty decision, and it is not possible for me to approve the demands on my own, and if I were the authority, I would have approved them because they are rightful [demands].”
“Blaming the Telecoms Minister is unacceptable,” Corm added.
Source: Lebanese media
