A Verity News investigation has uncovered that the APM Terminals owes dozens of its former employees over thirteen months in salaries and benefits after being redundant for more than six years.
Mr. Paye Habakkuk Gonquoi, a former Office Assistant and later GC Yard Clerk, is one of those who is still awaiting the payment of 13 months’ salary arrears owed to him by the company.
His family, still caught in a web of uncertainty, is now calling on the Government of Liberia and all relevant labor institutions to intervene.
Mr. Gonquoi was laid off on September 27, 2019, during the administration of former President George Manneh Weah.
While he, along with dozens of others, received redundancy payments, his 13th-month salary entitlement-clearly stated in his employment contract, remains unpaid to this day.
Though some of his former colleagues have reportedly received these outstanding payments, recent reports reaching the Gonquoi family suggest that a lawyer representing the case may have accepted a bribe, leading to a selective payout that excluded Mr. Gonquoi and others.
“This situation has caused us immense emotional and financial stress,” said Mr. Gonquoi’s daughter, who is preparing to graduate from university this October. “My father worked faithfully for years. He deserves what is rightfully his.”
Employment records reviewed by this paper confirm that Mr. Gonquoi was hired by APM Terminals Liberia on May 21, 2012, and his employment was formally confirmed on September 1, 2012. According to the terms of his contract, employees are entitled to an additional month’s salary every December, commonly known as the 13th-month salary.
Yet despite this binding clause, former employees have long struggled to receive this benefit.
In a 2023 letter to the Liberian Senate Committee on Labor, the President of the Dock Workers Union of Liberia (DOWUL), Madam Jackie N. W. Doe, acknowledged that APM Terminals owed 13th-month salary arrears to both current and former employees.
However, she admitted that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in August 2022 covered only current employees, effectively leaving former workers, including Mr. Gonquoi, out of any settlement.
Court documents from the National Labor Court of Liberia further confirm that in similar cases, rulings have favored former employees. In one notable decision, APM Terminals was ordered to pay over US$37,000 in outstanding 13th-month salary and other benefits to a former worker.
Mr. Gonquoi also signed two “Comprehensive Receipt and Release” agreements, one in 2019, acknowledging receipt of a redundancy package, and another in 2021, for balance annual leave and food allowance.
These documents include clauses waiving future claims against the company regarding those specific payments.
“A legal release must be clear and specific,” said a local labor law expert who reviewed the documents. “If the 13th-month salary was not included in the release and was never paid, the employee may still have a valid claim.”
A Plea to the Liberian Government
As graduation fees become due and no updates come from APM Terminals Liberia, the Gonquoi family is appealing directly to the Liberian Senate Committee on Labor, the Ministry of Labor, and other relevant authorities to investigate and act.
“We’re not asking for charity,” the family emphasized. “We’re asking for the company to honor its contractual and legal obligations.”
This case reflects broader concerns about alleged labor injustice, corruption in legal representation, and challenges faced by workers seeking redress in Liberia’s employment system.
APM Terminals, one of the largest operators at the Freeport of Monrovia, has long marketed itself under the banner of “Lifting Global Trade.” But to many former employees, that slogan has lost meaning.
“Let them lift their own workers first,” said a former employee, speaking on condition of anonymity.
As Mr. Gonquoi and others continue to wait for justice, the question remains: will anyone in power finally listen-and act?
