The Inquirer (Monrovia)
Morrison O.G. Sayon
13 December 2007
The ongoing strike action being staged by employees of the Firestone Plantation Company in Harbel, Margibi County has paralyzed normal activities on the plantation.
Violence broke out on penultimate Thursday on the plantation when employees of the Firestone Company went on the rampage for what they (employees) termed as management's continuous refusal to recognize their new leadership.
The workers also accused management of paying deaf ears to their plight and thereby ordering security forces to deal with them whenever they gather together during their recent strike action intended to draw management's attention to their plight.
The strike action at the plantation is said to be impeding normal activities including the closure of learning institutions while operations on the plantation that include tapping and other activities have ceased as a result of the strike.
The INQUIRER's reporter who visited the plantation yesterday observed that the Firestone Plantation was dormant with no sign of educational activities. With the exception of few private institutions in Harbel City, doors of the entire Firestone School System including the three campuses (elementary, junior and senior high) in Division-45 were all closed.
Our reporter who also visited some of the rubber farms observed the marks of old latex running on the rubber trees meaning that none of the rubber trees had been tapped for the past weeks since the strike action began.
A building was also gutted by fire something that was attributed to the very strike action. According to an eye witness account, the building, which is located in an area known as PPD Camp around the Engineering Department at Division-45 was reportedly set ablaze when the electric power at the plantation was cut off by the striking employees.
Though the management of the Firestone Company through its public relations Officer has disassociated itself from the strike action being staged by the workers and denied having any knowledge of the action, pundits believe that the situation is affecting Firestone as well as the employees themselves.
In its recent statement on the violence on the plantation, the management of Firestone denied its involvement in the incident and said the situation came as a result of a rivalry between two groups, who are battling in court over who should head the workers union.
In a related development, a group of Liberian women under the banner of the Mass Action for Peace yesterday visited the Ministry of Labor, at which time they met with Labor Minister Kofi Woods to express their concerns about the situation taking place at Firestone.
The women led by their spokesperson, Madam Cecelia Danuweli, said they are worried about the development taking place at the plantation because as they put it, it has the propensity to affect the overall peace and security of the nation. They urged the government to take concrete actions that would resolve the crisis.
The women also used the occasion to draw the Minister's attention to a number of other issues such as rape, homicide among others.
Responding, Minister Woods informed the women that dialogue into the firestone issue was then taking place with all sides including the GOL participating. He frowned on reemergence of violence in the country and urged the women to always ensure that the peace they have been yearning for to get the nation back on track be sustained. Minister Woods stressed the need for the working condition of employees to be improved at their work places because as he put it, if this is done, peace will be sustained and everyone will be happy.
He added that justice in the country must be for every one regardless of their wealth stressing that justice in our country, should not be only for the rich but for all including the poor.
Meanwhile, as the parties in the Firestone crisis enter negotiations over the latest crisis at the plantation, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mines and General Workers' Union (ICEM), has called on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to expedite union certificate of trade union, FAWUL, as workers' representative at the Firestone plantation.
The ICEM called for calm among the workers, who the group said are rightly frustrated by delays of government's jurisprudence in granting them what they have democratically and fairly won.
A statement issued earlier this week called for amnesty for arrested workers and urged the GOL to certify the elected leaders of FAWUL.
ICEM, a global federation consisting of over 400 trade unions in about 125 countries, said it has written a letter to the Liberian leader on the latest irestone crisis urging her to use her influence to recognize the legitimacy of the Firestone Workers' Union.
The ICEM communication, which was released under the signature of the ICEM Chief Scribe, Manfred Warde, said it insists that they certify FAWUL and ensure that local management at the plantation engages in full and meaningful collective negotiations with FAWUL. FAWUL is an affiliate of ICEM.
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