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Following the statement by the Ministry of Labor rejecting the legitimacy of the trade union of migrant domestic workers, the President of the General National Federation of Trade Union of Workers and Employees in Lebanon (FENASOL), Castro Abdallah, declared that the legitimacy of such trade union is not bestowed by the Ministry but rather by the fact that there are some 250,000 migrant domestic workers who do not enjoy their basic rights.  He compared the trade union to an “illegitimate child” denounced by the father but who cannot be denied the right to life.  Abdallah described the decision by the Ministry to withhold authorization for this new trade union as baseless.  He also questioned the legitimacy of authorizing, on the other hand, owners of employment offices the right to set up their union.  Abdallah wondered how traffickers can have the right to unionise.

According to Abdallah, the position of the Ministry is in total violation of international labor codes 87, 97 and 189 and of the International Human Rights Charter and the International Covenant of Social, cultural and economic rights.  He also added that the Ministry is also in total contradiction with the Cabinet which voted for the international convention for decent work number 189 at the 100th session of the ILO in June 2011.  Abdallah concluded by saying that the demands of migrant workers are economic and are within the remit of union work, hence the importance of creating a trade union which would protect their rights.  He also noted that the emerging trade union will also include Lebanese workers.

(Source: As-Safir & Al-Akhbar 28 January 2015)

 

Towards a “Union” for foreign domestic workers amidst threats from the Ministry of Labor

 

The Lebanese-Chinese Businesspeople gathering was launched yesterday at the Adnan Kassar premises for the Arab Economy under the auspices of the Minister of Industry Dr. Hussein Hajj Hassan, and the Minister of Economy and Trade, Mr. Alain hakim and with the participation of the president of economic institutions Adnan Kassar, the Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Jiang Jiang, and the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture Mohammed Shoucair in addition to many ministers, MPs and diplomats.  This coalition was set up by a group of merchants, industrialists, investors and entrepreneurs headed by industrialists Ali al Abdallah who noted that business people from various sectors may join this group which main purpose is to help Lebanon and support Lebanese exports to China and address all obstacles they encounter,  Abdallah added that main exports to China include olive oil, olives, apples and wine which are promising but need further attention as experiences in exporting to China remain thus far quite shy.  The role of the Coalition will be to pave the way to facilitate the entry of Lebanese products into China.  Abdallah concluded by emphasizing the capital role of business women who make up 30% of the current membership of the Coalition.  He also pointed out to the important role that Chinese women plan in the economy of China.

 

(Source: As-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal & Al-Diyar 28 January 2015)

 

The Parliamentary Sub-Commission for Administration and Justice entrusted with the review of the electoral law met yesterday and was presided by MP Nawwar al Sa7hili and with the participation of its MP members in addition to the representative of the Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Ziad Ayub, the representative of the NCLW, Fadia Kiwan, the representative of the Arab Centre for Development, Chantal Sarkis in addition to Khulood Kassem, representing the Lebanese Mothers Association and Joelle Abu Far7hat and Paola Majdalini representing Women in Front.  The Commission listened to the views and comments of women organizations regarding the women quota but declined to endorse it in the absence of a prior agreement on the final form of the electoral law and the divisions of the various conscriptions.

On a related vein, Al Mustaqbal newspaper noted in its issue of today that various CSOs presented a written study in which they outline the distribution of women according to circumscriptions.  As such, if the system will adopt the proportional representation system, then the women quota will be 30% and for reserved seats.  If the adopted system is that of the majority rule, then the same quota will be divided by half into reserved and elected seats.  In case of a mixed system, then the electoral lists should be arranged in such a way that women’s access to parliament will be guaranteed.

 

(Source: Al-Mustqbal 27 January, 2015)

 

Following the Conference held a day ago to create the trade union of migrant domestic workers (view related news on: http://bit.ly/1znGRMS), the Ministry of Labor officially announced yesterday its total rejection of this matter which it considers to be illegal.  According to the statement issued by the Ministry of Labor, “there are unofficial parties which have been trying for weeks to set up a syndicate for migrant domestic workers”, “the Ministry was always a pioneer in highlighting the issues of concern to migrant domestic workers”, the statement also adds that”modern laws will resolve problems in this sector and not the creation of groupings under the guise of trade union which is likely to create further problems”.  According to the same statement, the current Minister is presently studying the issue of sponsorship (kafala) and he has already taken concrete steps to improve the conditions of migrant domestic workers which were included in a special law for migrant workers which he has referred to the Cabinet.  The said law petition is inspired, according to the same statement, by the standards stipulated in international convention number 189 endorsed by the ILO regarding the rights of migrant domestic workers.

 

(Source: As-Safir, Al-Diyar, Al-Akhbar & Annahar 27 January, 2015)

 

The Parliamentary Commission for Agriculture and Tourism held yesterday a meeting yesterday which was headed by MP Ayoob 7hmayyed.  The Commission focused on reviewing the extent of the damages incurred by the storm during the past two weeks.  The Commission was in agreement over the necessity to support the agricultural solidarity fund to enable it to compensate farmers who suffer from natural disasters.  By the end of the meeting, MP 7hmayyed declared that an agreement was reached to support small farmers through agricultural extension as well as improving their export potentials.  The Minister of Agriculture, Akram Chehayeb, noted for his part that the Cabinet and the Ministry do not have currently the financial means to compensate all farmers but are able nevertheless to support small farmers who live from one season to another and are committed to bank loans and various debts.  As such, the livelihoods of small farmers are heavily dependent on the kind of support that the state will provide them with.

(Source: Al-Diyar & As-Safir 27 January, 2015)

 

A conference aiming to create a trade union for foreign domestic workers was convened yesterday.  Participants chose the name of their syndicates to be “the General Union for Cleaning and Social Care Workers”.  The event took place despite threats from the Ministry of Labor which attempted to break it whilst threatening to resort to security forces for that matter.  The Ministry noted that such a trade union is in violation of Lebanese laws.  The current Minister of Labor, Sejaan Azzi, threatened the organizers directly notably the National Federation of Trade Union of Workers and Employees in Lebanon (FENASOL) ,who took the responsibility of organising and hosting the new trade union.  Legal activists Nizar Saghieh rejected warnings and consider these to be in violation of trade union rights.  Saghieh added that no crime has been committed and no law in the penal code has been violated.  The Conference was held at the headquarters of the FENASOL and included 350 workers of various nationalities as well as ambassadors and diplomats from Ethiopia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in addition to leaders from the FENASOL and representatives from the ILO and International Trade Union Confederation.  The aim of the conference was to set up a trade union organisation which would defend the rights of this category of workers.

The Ministry of Labor is expected to issue a statement responding to this action. Meanwhile, a high level representative of the Ministry considered that “people involved in this action have no representation capacity and what happened was in violation of the law and those responsible will be held accountable”.  He added that “nobody has the right to set up a trade union unless he/she is a Lebanese national and that domestic workers are excluded from the mandate of the present labor law and are not authorized to set up a trade union”.

(Source: As-Safir and Al-Akhbar 26 January 2015)

 

The Working Women Union in the North organized a discussion seminar on the stereotypes which guide relations between women and men in the family.  The seminar grouped women from the villages of Tell Meyan and Tell Hayat in Akkar.  Participants spoke about their experiences in the field of work and how they relate to their husbands.  Women also spoke about the various tasks that they do like minor agricultural work and Mooneh production.  According to Al Mustaqbal newspaper which published this report, although these tasks are basic, yet, they allowed women from Akkar to engage, albeit in a limited way, in the public domain. In sharing their stories, some women spoke about being beaten by their husbands and accepting it.  Another young woman told the group that her father forbade her from going back to school because he saw her talking with a male classmates.  She called for the creation of same sex schools in case gender integration was considered to be problematic.  Another woman said that she is happy with her work and that she no longer allows her husband to hit her.

 

(Source: Al-Mustaqbal 26 January, 2015)

 

The Joint Parliamentary Commissions had a brief meeting yesterday and finally succeeded in endorsing the Food Safety Law proposal which will be referred it to the Assembly so that it is approved during its next meeting.  To be noted that the endorsement of what is known as the Bassel Fuleihan law occurred following the introduction of some amendments according to the President of the Parliamentary Commission for health, MP Atef Majdalani.  The amendments mainly pertained to the prerogatives of the Council which explicitly included the need for to coordination with the relevant Ministries.  Other amendments related to the party which has tutelage over the Council, a tutelage which now falls within the responsibilities of the Prime Minister. The project law considers the Council as a financially and administratively independent body. On this, Minister of Public Health, Wael Abou Faour, noted that he would have preferred the Council to have full executive prerogative rather than being constrained by coordination with Ministries.  According to As Safir newspaper, the mandate of this new law includes all types of food and beverages including water and all material used for food production, packaging, treatment and marketing as well as all agricultural products even if they are not considered to be nutrients.

For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Akram Shehayeb revealed a new scandal related to Zaatar production. According to the Minister, the authorities intercepted a trading shop located in 3aramoon which was using bran died in red or green and mixed with powder wood, citrus and only a bit of Zaatar imported from Syria and then sold as Lebanese Zaatar.  Minister Shehayeb announced the foreclosure of the culprit trading shop as well as of another institution that sells expired agricultural products, pesticides and veterinary meds.

Source: Al-Diyar, As-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Akhbar & Annahar 22 & 23 January, 2015)

 

Al Akhbar newspaper published on Wednesday an interview with a pioneer woman in the banking sector, namely Tanya Mussallem, the assistant General Manager of the BLC Bank who played a key role in developing programme for women.  Mussallem was recently appointed vice-president of the Global banking Alliance for Women which groups some of the most prestigious international banking and finance institutions.

Mussallem indicated that the Banking sector provides a more conducive environment for women who are there in high proportion but who remain poorly represented in leadership positions.   Mussallem added that presently women occupy 37% of the total managerial posts in her bank but plans are to raise this proportion to 50% by 2020.

Musallem felt that women, as customers, always hesitate in dealing with banks.  She said that she will work hard to change this reality through the implementation of the Bank’s Women Empowerment Initiative (WE Initiative) which seeks to empower women through supporting their initiatives with tailored-made banking products and services.  Mussallem further noted that women need support and encouragement so that they can reach their aspirations. However, they also need banking institutions that would accompany them in their professional journey and would provide them with special programmes. These special programmes should seek to provide financing to projects, organise workshops to build women’s capacities and strengthen their experiences as well as facilitate their entry into the job market.

 

(Source: Al-Akhbar 21 January,2015)