Ogero staff threaten action if salaries unpaid

MegaCool

Couldnt find the right thread to post this :S
So here we go. More drama!

BEIRUT: Employees of the semi-autonomous telecommunications company Ogero threatened drastic action Thursday if their salaries are not paid at the end of this month. The state-owned Ogero, which has more than 3,500 employees across the country, fears that neither caretaker Telecom Minister Charbel Nahhas nor the caretaker Finance Minister Raya Hafar Hassan will be able to pay their salaries after the Cabinet officially collapsed in January.

Without a Cabinet there is no way to approve spending in excess of the last government budget which was passed by the Parliament six years ago. In a brief statement to the press, the executive council of Ogero employees said that in light of the continuing financial crisis which the institution is currently going through, the staff may be compelled to take drastic action if their salaries were not paid on time.

The council added that it will hold a news conference Monday to explain the current developments and to adopt the next step.
Ogero runs and manages all of the country’s landlines as well as its Internet service.

Sources said that Nahhas has written to the Accounting Council to ask whether he is allowed to pay the salaries of Ogero staff from the revenues the ministry has collected from telecommunications fees. But the council has so far not responded to this request.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri has also sought an urgent loan to pay the salaries of Ogero. However, an informed source told The Daily Star the row over the legal rights of Ogero cannot be solved until a new Cabinet is formed soon.

Sources added that the problem began during the discussion of the 2011 budget, when Nahhas demanded a revision of the official statues of Ogero because, he said, “this entity has exceeded its original powers”. After lengthy debate, the Finance and Budget parliamentary committee agreed to change the status of the Ogero and to authorize Nahhas to renegotiate a new contract with the company. But the head of Ogero, Abdul Mounim Youssif, refused to sign new contracts under revised terms.

“Nahhas should have done his homework before changing the status of the company. The minister is trying to find a solution for the salary problem but I think it’s a bit late,” the source said.

There is growing concern that the landline phone and Internet services may come to a halt if employees were to go on strike. There are more than 750,000 land lines in Lebanon and more than 200,000 DSL subscribers. Future Movement MP Ghazi Youssef accused Nahhas Monday of violating the law, mismanaging funds and signing contracts contrary to rules and regulations.

The MP said Nahhas has spent $200 million on 3G technology without the approval of the Cabinet, which is required to issue a circular to allow the Telecommunications Ministry to offer such services to the public. Youssef said Nahhas’ unprofessional behavior is expected to lead to an economic meltdown at the end of the month, when Ogero will be unable to pay the salaries of 3,500 employees, or its debts to suppliers.

“Ogero owes suppliers of cables, fuel oil, kalam cards and telecartes the amount of LL18 billion which should have been paid six months ago,” he said

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=126418#axzz1HkQE5fsO

BashLogic

the part that i like the most:
"which has more than 3,500 employees across the country,"

so they have 3500 employees to run the operation that does not properly serve!
in many countries, the companies have 1/6th the staff of ogero and the business
is much larger serving in many sectors.

what a joke!

MrClass

dude have you seen the ogero staff? i've been there and they are all rubbish. I am sure 80% of them don't even have a university degree. and they say why the coms sector in Lebanon is shitty....go check your rubbish employees ogero

jsaade

don;t forget that this include maintenance employees (which are a lot across the country).
and paid "wasta" employees who actually have other jobs (and are also a lot across the country).

jp-3482

MrClass wrotedude have you seen the ogero staff? i've been there and they are all rubbish. I am sure 80% of them don't even have a university degree. and they say why the coms sector in Lebanon is shitty....go check your rubbish employees ogero

A university degree does not insure qualification, in fact I think if we're talking about network or sys admins experience is the best bet. I will take someone based on experience before even considering what piece of paper he was given by a shady university in eastern Europe or Lebanon. I will say that even the top universities can not teach you what a sysadmin with years of experience under his belt knows.

The com sector is shitty because people in suits have vented interests in keeping it that way.

xazbrat

Been discussed already---I don't know why it is being rehashed in the media. Even talked about it within the last 10 days.

http://www.lebgeeks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8678&p=2

As for Ogero, the few techs I have dealt with have been ok. They are not einsteins, but mostly geeks. Dealing with whoever on the phone or someone who proclaims "how can you download more than 3 gigs in a month--these guys are tools or complete idiots. A combination is most likely though.