Labor Minister Cooper Kruah has launched series of resolution meetings as part of finding permanent resolution to long standing labor disputes between workers and management at Firestone Natural Rubber Company in Margibi County.
While his administration was already set to embark on the crisis resolution exercise, an official communication from the Senate Standing Committee on Labor in Grand Gedeh County, Thomas Yaya Nimely, outlined the gravity of the situations at Firestone and the urgent need for peaceful settlement.
Minister Kruah at the head of a team and officials from the umbrella trade union in the country, the Liberia Labor Congress (LCC), over the weekend held separate discussions with Firestone senior management led by General Manager Seamus Gunton and officials from LCC and its plantation member union, the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union (FAWUL), Marcus Blamah and Rodenic Bongorlee, respectively at the company’s head office in Harbel, Margibi County.
According to a Labor Ministry press release, in the aftermath of the successful conclusion of the first phase of Minister Kruah’s mediation exercise, key issues discussed included, the management’s alleged introduction of a process called ‘k-factor’, which reduces quantity of tapped rubber upon weighing leading to drastic cuts in workers’ monthly wages.
The workers were lamenting over deplorable housing and educational facilities, premature invalidation of retrenched employees, as well as workers being declared fit to resume work, after medical treatment which has impact on their chances of receiving required benefits from the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP), among others.
The release disclosed that Minister Kruah urged both the Firestone management and the aggrieved workers to exercise tolerance, respect and cooperate with the ministry in amicably resolving the issues.
He further called on both sides to avoid confrontation that could paralyze industrial activities, emphasizing the government’s determination to use social dialogue in addressing industrial disputes, as the best formula for labor stability.
The labor minister stressed the need for management to introduce an internal gratuity program for long serving workers, even as they await NASSCORP’s pension benefits as a motivation for increased production by the workers.
Firestone General Manager Gunton, its Legal Counsel Edward Dillon and the Government Affairs Manager, Richard Falla lauded Minister Kruah for his personal swift intervention to resolve the crisis which, according to them, was now spiraling out of control.
According to the release, they assured Minister Kruah that already management had initiated several projects, aimed at improvement in housing, educational and monthly wages, as well as other programs for the benefit of the workers.
The release stressed that officials of the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union (FAWUL) and the Liberia Labour Congress (LCC) Rodenic Bongorlee, Foday Bangura and Marcus Blamah, commended Minister Kruah for initiating the crisis resolution meetings and assured him of their fullest cooperation in amicably and permanently resolving these burning concerns.
Meanwhile, a major Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) culminating from the ongoing crisis resolution meetings, binding all parties under the supervision of the Labor Minister is expected to be signed at an official program shortly, following completion of details by a joint technical committee comprising representatives from the workers and Management.
