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21 May 2020

Lebanon: After a week-long strike, waste sector migrant workers reach a deal with RAMCO; incl.co. comments

With the value of the Lebanese currency falling rapidly, hundreds of migrant workers mainly from Bangladesh and India have been protesting at RAMCO Waste Management in Beirut against cuts to their wages. The workers demanded that their wages be paid in US Dollars as per their contracts or by Lebanese Lira (LL) according to the black market exchange rate of 4200 LL. The company has been paying wages in Lebanese Lira since November 2019 based on the official rate exchange of 1500 LL to the US Dollar which has negatively affected the level of remittances that workers usually send home to their families. 

The strike was forcibly suppressed by police using tear gas and sticks. It has been reported that the police arrested one of the workers during the strike and that he still remains in custody. The Director of RAMCO told Al Jazeera that "While it is clear that the company is violating its contracts with its workers, it cannot pay them in dollars or at the prevailing market rate because the Lebanese state - its biggest customer -  started paying for the company's services in Lebanese pounds at the official exchange rate". 

RAMCO has reached an agreement with the migrant workers to end the strike after having agreed to temporarily increase their wages.