The Lebanese newspaper “Al-Akhbar” reported recently the file of “Spinneys’ “expelled workers after six years of the filing of the criminal action against the company and its chairman.
Three expelled workers from the company have filed criminal proceedings for the prevention of workers from practicing their trade union rights by the administration under Article 329 of the Penal Code. When workers decided in 2012 to establish a trade union to represent their workers and especially to raise their wages. This made the administration push the workers to retreat, expelling all trade union leaders.
The workers' lawyer confirmed that the company's management exerted great pressure on a large number of workers, who reacted with the trade union activities and forced dozens of them to submit their resignations. He pointed out in his pleadings to the workers that about 40 resignations took place in August 2012, "carrying the same text and the same date that followed the announcement of the establishment of the union by only one month " in addition to the existence of documents proving "the luring of about 12 leaders in the constituent body of the union to the offices of the secretaries of justice in order to acknowledge their retreat from the trade union work, "as well as, a set of documents proving the involvement of the company in causing a moral harm to workers represented by taking discriminatory action against each other and the dismissal of some others.
The lawyer asked the court to award compensation of $ 50 000 to each plaintiff, to establish the principle of protecting the freedom of association in Lebanon and to restore the balance among workers and employers, wishing the President of the Court to issue a model judgment in this case in order to abolish the principle of workers' choice between their rights and their work.
#Lebanese #Spinneys #freedom_of_trade_union #Lebanon
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