EDL warn against private sector strikebreakers

Electricite Du Liban contract workers warned private sector electricity service providers Thursday against handling tasks normally performed by independent contractors, security sources told The Daily Star. The sources added that contract workers have issued written notifications to the following companies: Debbas, Butec and Khatib and Alamy. Earlier Thursday morning, the protesting workers forcefully shut the company’s gates, preventing EDL employees from entering the company’s premises. The workers later reopened the gates at 9:30 a.m. Speaker Nabih Berri has asked the Parliament Secretariat to formally endorse 23 laws passed during a general session of Parliament Monday. But a law that makes EDL contract workers full-timers threatens to derail the meeting. Christian MPs from the March 8 and March 14 camps have strongly opposed the law, claiming that it will lead to the underrepresentation of Christians in the civil service. The issue has heightened tensions between Berri and his political ally Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun. MPs who oppose the law may challenge it before the Constitutional Council. Alternatively they may propose different legislation, forwarding their suggestions to Parliament. A third option would be for President Michel Sleiman to return the law to parliament.