Lebanon: foreign workers in Ramco protest their quotas



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Several foreign workers at the Ramco company specialized in waste collection in Mount Lebanon and some areas of Beirut implemented a movement in the vicinity of the company, demanding to pay their fees in dollars, or at least pay them the difference of the green currency in the Lebanese pound, after it exceeded the exchange rate at ATMs and on the black market. Threshold of 4200 Lebanese lira, while the official exchange rate remains fixed at 1515 Lebanese lira.

And during the move, there was tension between the workers, who numbered more than a hundred, and the security forces, after protesters prevented trucks from leaving the company campus, and videos circulated through social media documenting recruiting a large security force that assaulted and cracked down on workers, which activists quickly denounced and called for a protest. Today, Wednesday, in solidarity with the rights of foreign workers in front of the company offices in Hamra – Beirut.

Today, protesters raised their voices out loud in front of the company, demanding that workers, the majority of whom are Bangladeshi and Indian, have full rights. Note that they did not stop working despite the risks of the Corona virus.
On social media, a statement issued by workers spread about social violations and violations practiced by the administration against them, and stole their material, health and medical rights.

For his part, Ramco stated in a statement that “since November 2019, it has stopped receiving its quotas in US dollars from the Lebanese State, despite the violation of that contract signed with the government.”

He noted that the violation of the contract by the government has caused significant losses to the company and will lead to its inability to continue to implement its obligations and stop its work if the state does not initiate payment of the company’s current and future dues, either in US dollars according to the signed contract or in Lebanese pounds according to the current exchange rate. By the ATMs.

The statement added that “the lack of commitment of the Lebanese state to pay our financial quotas that exceed 7 months, made it impossible for foreign workers to transfer their wages abroad, and in the event that they could buy it in the banking market, they lost 4 times the value of your salary, which led to your claim to get your wages in dollars. “

The company explained that it had negotiated with Bangladeshi workers who had blocked the way for the mechanisms to prevent them from leaving and opening the doors of the company, and not allowing other workers to leave their rooms and go to work, and they tried to find a solution that satisfies both parties, but the closure continued for more than 6 hours. Request the company to inform the security forces about developments and the existing reality, to ensure that the situation does not worsen.



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