The Labour Ministry has taken significant steps to address long-standing disputes between workers and management at Firestone Natural Rubber Company, focusing on contentious issues such as wage reductions and poor working conditions.
Labour Minister Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah, Sr. has spearheaded a series of resolution meetings at Firestone Natural Rubber Company in Margibi County, aiming to bring an end to protracted labor disputes.
Over the weekend, Minister Kruah led a high-level delegation, including officials from the Liberia Labour Congress (LCC) and its plantation member union, the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union (FAWUL), in separate discussions with Firestone’s General Manager, Seamus Gunton, and other senior executives at the company’s headquarters in Harbel.
According to a Labour Ministry press release, the mediation has highlighted critical grievances, including the alleged implementation of a “k-factor” process that reduces workers’ monthly wages, inadequate housing and educational facilities, and the denial of required benefits for medically cleared and retrenched workers.
Minister Kruah urged both parties to avoid confrontations that could disrupt industrial operations and emphasized the government’s commitment to resolving disputes through dialogue.
He also recommended the establishment of an internal gratuity program for long-serving workers as a means of boosting morale and productivity while awaiting NASSCORP pension benefits.
The intervention has drawn praise from Firestone management, with General Manager Seamus Gunton and other officials commending the Labour Ministry for swiftly addressing the escalating tensions.
They assured the Ministry of ongoing efforts to improve housing, education, and wages for workers.
FAWUL and LCC Representatives also lauded the Minister’s initiative and pledged their full cooperation in ensuring a peaceful resolution to the disputes.
Meanwhile, a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is set to be finalized shortly, binding all parties under the Labour Ministry’s supervision.
A joint technical committee comprising representatives from workers and management is currently working on the details.
Minister Kruah, in addressing the audience urged both management and aggrieved Firestone 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 labour stability.
The Labour Minister is further quoted as stressing the need for management to introduce an internal gratuity program for long serving workers, even as they await NASSCORP pension benefits as a motivational for increased production by the workers.
Minister Kruah is further quoted by the release as recalling that while his administration was already set to embark on the crisis resolution exercise, he received an official communication from the Senate Standing Committee on Labour, Grand Gedeh County Senator Thomas Yaya Nimely, outlining the gravity of situations at Firestone and the urgent need for peaceful settlement.
For their parts, Firestone General Manager, Seamus Gunton, Legal Counsel Cllr. Edward Dillon and Government Affairs Manager Richard Falla lauded Minister Kruah for his personal swift intervention to resolve the crisis which, according to them, was now sparrawling 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 Labour 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.
