Monrovia — The management of Mano Manufacturing Company (MANCO) says it is taken aback by the go-slow action staged by a few aggrieved contractors and employees at the company's premises on the Bushrod Island, outside Monrovia.
It can be recalled that during the early morning hours of Monday, May 30, 2022, some aggrieved employees and contractors staged a go-slow action calling for a "Mother Union" outside of the company to serve as their "Sole Collective Bargaining Agent" and other roles as respect to their functions. They named the agent as the Liberia Industrial Workers Union
But in a press statement issued under the signature of the company's General Manager, Mr. Asaad Fadel, the management noted that the request was made at the time the workers are already having a functional and robust union which has been working that their wellbeing and interests are improved and prioritized at the company.
"Though we do not intend to infringe on the constitutional rights of the aggrieved workers to freely associate with other groups or associations, the management of MANCO believes that the channel used by the aggrieved employees as means to compel the forceful acknowledgement of their request was unacceptable and ill-advised" the management maintained.
The management observed that some outsiders are bent on inciting its employees against the company to satisfy their personal aggrandizement.
Already, there exists a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the workers Union and the management. The MOU is being timely and scrupulously implemented to ensure a win-win situation for both the company and the employees.
In keeping with the MOU signed with the Union, the MANCO management has employed and increased the salaries of several persons, while others are being considered for employment.
In a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Labour, Hannah M. Karbo, the leadership of the aggrieved employees and contractors admitted to procedural errors on their part.
They pleaded for forgiveness for being so hasty to stage the go-slow action paralyzing normal working activities early Monday morning without hearing from the company's management and the Ministry of Labour respectively on their request made.
For her part, the management encouraged the aggrieved contractors and employees to always use dialogue as a mean to find solutions to their disputes or disenchantments.
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According to the company's management, consistent protests and go-slow actions at industrial companies operating in the country have the propensity of scaring away potential investors in the wake of extreme economic hardship and challenges and as such, employees and contractors at MANCO should desist from trending similar path.
The company's management, however, reaffirmed its commitment and willingness to continue to prioritize the wellbeing of its employees and contractors. It vowed to continue to act in line with the Decent Work Act of the Republic of Liberia.
The management is however calling on the employees and contractors to return to work in keeping with the outcome of the meeting held with the Deputy Minister of Labour.
For more than 50 years now, MANCO has been manufacturing high quality Alcohol, Medicated Soaps of various kinds, antiseptics (X-TTOL) including Clora Super Bleach, among others.
Meanwhile, normal working activities have resumed at the company following the intervention of the Ministry of Labour.
