Turkiye pulls out of hosting key UN nature talks

Turkiye pulls out of hosting key UN nature talks

BEIRUT: Employees of Lebanon’s state-owned television channel Tele Liban began an open-ended strike on Thursday in a dispute over salaries and unpaid social assistance.

Work in the news and program departments stopped. However, technicians continued to broadcast recorded music “to keep this station on the Lebanese media map,” an employee said.

Mirna Chidiac, head of the Tele Liban employees syndicate, told Arab New that the strike follows a long series of reviews and “failed attempts to receive our dues.”

Employees are still receiving salaries based on an exchange rate of 1,500 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, which was set before the currency collapse in 2019, she said.

“There are 200 employees at Tele Liban, and some have to borrow money to reach the station’s headquarters in Beirut to continue working,” she said.

“All employees of the public sector have received dues approved by the government to help them, whereas the Tele Liban employees still receive LBP1.5 million, which is equivalent to $16 today. This salary was equivalent to $1,000 before the economic crisis.

“An employee’s salary that was LBP5 million, or $3,500, is not even $55 today.”

On Wednesday, the channel’s administration was told by the Ministry of Finance that “work is underway to transfer the owed