With unemployment at 37%, trade unions demand cabinet deliberation

The President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Workers and Employees in Lebanon, Saad el Din Hamidi Saqr revealed a rise in unemployment rate to 37% contrary to what is widely believed (22 to 25%) percentage. Hamidi Saqr who was speaking to Al Markaziya electronic portal on Friday, pointed out that all the presented solutions do not match the size of the disaster, but commended efforts made by labor minister, Sajaan Azzi, in this direction. Hamidi Saqr indicated that “the response to the crisis cannot be divided but rather should be all-inclusive and collaborative between all the involved ministries, committees and unions, particularly that a part of the problem is the product of the increasing number of Syrian refugees,” as he claimed. In this context, Hamidi Saqr mentioned the frequent appeals made by the general trade union to this effect and called on the concerned economic bodies and business owners to show more support to Lebanese workers instead of recruiting what he termed  “relatively cheap foreign labor, notably from Asia, or displaced Syrian nationals.” He stressed the need to combine efforts to address the situation, warning that the upsurge in the number of unemployed persons in the country is an indicator of a serious social crisis that should be placed as a priority on the table of discussion of the Cabinet. (Al Diyar, July 9, 2016)