With renewed talk about restructuring the telecommunications sector and the possibility of moving towards outsourcing or privatizing the operation of the two cellular networks, the issue of employee rights has emerged again. While the official authorities issue reassuring statements and offer guarantees, the Cellular Employees Union raised the ceiling of its demands and insisted on the necessity of having clear, written texts that establish the continuity of workers and protect them from any possible arbitrary dismissal in the future. The head of the Cellular Employees Syndicate, Mark Aoun, confirms that mere promises are not enough, and that the real guarantee must be embodied in the book of conditions, through explicit texts that preserve the rights in full and for a specific period of time.
The head of the Cellular Employees Syndicate, Mark Aoun, confirmed that the union received promises and assurances from the concerned authorities regarding the continuity of employees and the protection of their rights, explaining that they visited His Excellency the President of the Republic, the Minister of Communications, as well as the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, where they felt a positive atmosphere and received reassuring words that served the interests of the employees.
Aoun stated that the union shows good faith and deals positively with these trends, considering that what they heard constitutes a step towards calm and building confidence. However, he stressed that previous experiences taught them not to be satisfied with verbal statements, adding: “I do not say beans until they are in a measure,” referring to the need to see things actually implemented on the ground.
He explained that what is required is to include a clear and explicit clause in the book of conditions stipulating that the employee will continue and remain in his job with full rights, in accordance with the collective labor contract signed in 2025, without specifying a vague time period or flexible wording that is subject to interpretation. He also demanded that the text include a time guarantee of no less than five years during which it is prohibited to dismiss any employee or infringe upon his rights.
He pointed out that simply using the phrase “employee continuity” without precise legal details opens the door to interpretations that may allow any new operating company to circumvent the guarantees after a short period, warning against repeating previous experiences that witnessed attempts to dismiss employees illegally, which prompted the union at the time to take escalatory measures that reached the point of closing the two companies in defense of the employees’ rights.
Aoun pointed to the experience of 2004, when a clear mechanism was adopted to guarantee the protection of workers during the transition period, whereby those who wished to leave were granted their compensation and were prohibited from returning before five years had passed, while the rights of those who chose to remain were preserved in full and without any decrease, with companies committing not to dismiss them during a specific period. He believed that adopting a similar formula today would provide job stability and protect the sector from any disturbances.
He also raised questions about the feasibility of moving towards appointing new administrations or possible privatization, while a few months ago new general directors were appointed, wondering about the reasons for replacing them or imposing additional structures, considering that the large number of administrative positions does not necessarily reflect real reform, but rather may increase the burdens without addressing the essence of the problem.
Aoun concluded by stressing that the union will closely monitor any attempt to infringe on the rights of employees, stressing that protecting workers and their job stability is a red line, and that any transfer or assignment process must be based on clear and explicit written guarantees that fully guarantee their rights.
