IPNEWS: The leadership of the Workers Union of Bea Mountain Mining Company, in Western Liberia, Grand Cape Mount County has expressed serious concern and displeasure over the delay of the National Legislature’s reported failure to present to the Country their finding over the alleged salary disparity, bad labor practices, unsafe working environment, inhuman treatment and wrongful dismissal of Liberian by management of the Company.
According to the Union since the lawmakers visited the company site to verify the concern raised by them over the alleged salary disparity, bad labor, and unsafe working environment, the legislature it’s been almost two months plus and they are yet to report to the country their findings.
‘’ we don’t know what is preventing our lawmakers from coming back to us and the company with their findings. They promise to get back to us in the shortest possible time. We are still hoping for them. The Ministry of Labor has failed us therefore they are our last hope. Since September they did all their finding and we took them around they say everything for themselves. But we don’t know what the delay is about’’ they noted.
The group said that they have been carrying it for a long time because there are lots of violations on the mining site and disadvantages against Liberia based upon that the legislature decided to probe the matter but since they visited the site and expressed concern over the situation, they are yet to report to them.
‘’ our concern was about salary disparity and the lawmakers requested the company to provide the payroll for both local (Liberian) and the expert (foreigner) so it can be proven. We also told them about the daily hire as stated in the Decent Work ACT chapter 13.2 (a) because it’s the company that is choosing for daily hairier. We did all that so they can call the Labor Ministry to book to see how those things can be worked out. They are yet to report to us’’ they noted.
They explained that Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) is very clear in Article 11.5 (b) which says that once you are employed, the management should provide you with housing unite directly or indirectly but that is not done at all and people are paying for their rent in homes in the village.
He pointed out that even with the investment in education they are not doing it since 2016 here only two people were given four years of scholarships, and we want them to do more because we need the education.
The group, however, called for a Labor inspector from the Ministry of Labor to be represented on the mining site in order to observe and mitigate the challenges and inhuman treatment that Liberians are currently undergoing at the site.
Speaking in an interview with this paper over the weekend in the County, Bea Mountain Mining Company Worker Union President Mr. Sam Roberts accused the management of paying two thousand eight hundred United States dollars to Turkey nationals while Liberians are paid three hundred and two hundred Liberian while they both are doing the same work.
Mr. Roberts said that there are wrapped dismissal, and bad labor practices currently at the mining site where they are redolent without benefit only because their supervisor is not happy with their presence, something he said could not have happened if the legislature release their fact-finding report.
He also alleged that workers of the company are only giving booths without safety protective gear to work, something he said they have complained to management several but they refuse to supply them rather always informing them that they send for it PPE.
‘’ We can eat in the open, while on jobs. The foreigners have a cafeteria that they eat in while we eat in containers on sit. We are badly treated and we have no voice. We are playing with a chemical that is dangerous and strong but yet they don’t give us glasses, and protective gear. We have people with a better experience on the job making little or nothing while those guys from Turkey who just graduated making thousands of dollars’’ he alleged.
Mr. Roberts alleged that the inhuman treatment against Liberians has greatly increased in the Mining sit because they are not having a voice, adding that recently one of their fried was dismissed without investigation.
‘’ We are just asking our lawmakers to help us. They are there working for us. We employ them. With their intervention, we know that there will be a change in the company. We don’t want it to be like January when the county has to protest and lawmakers came and since they left nothing to happen. We are praying that in our case it should not be like that. We are hoping on them that whatever fact-finding they came for let them address this thing because this is a complete violation.
Our ears are still open to hearing from them. If our lawmakers refuse to come back here, we the employees put in trouble because our management will feel that nobody is there to talk for us’’ he concluded. By Taisiah K.Merfee
