To ensure employment for hundreds of ordinary Liberian job seekers, the Ministry of Labor has suspended work permits for unskilled expatriates brought into the country.
According to the Labor Minister, Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah, this suspension will affect those already in Liberia and those under significant investment conglomerates.
The move takes effect upon the expiration of Alien Work Permits this year against several unskilled expatriates working with significant foreign investment conglomerates.
The Labor Ministry, through its boss, Cllr. Kruah made the pronouncement over the weekend while concluding the third leg of his ongoing nationwide labor assessment tour at several foreign-owned companies in Nimba County.
Minister Kruah and his team have toured concessions including the world steel giant Arcelor Mittal, AFCONS, PSS, WBHOSC, and Mahathi Infra Company so far.
A press release issued by the Ministry outlined that Minister Kruah’s pronouncement to suspend the issuance or renewal of Alien Work Permits for unskilled expatriates in the country was triggered by mounting complaints from local workers about the influx of several unskilled expatriates working at major industrial companies, hindering job placement for hundreds of youthful job-seeking Liberians.
For direct engagements and frank exchanges with Liberians on contacts or employment at the various concessions during the tour, the release disclosed that Labor Minister Kruah received complaints of a vast number of unskilled laborers being imported into the country by their respective managements.
According to the aggrieved workers, the aliens are performing minor tasks that Liberians are capable of performing.
They claimed that this act denied them the right to be recruited.
Minister Kruah further expressed serious concerns over the situation and urged the affected concessions to ensure that these unskilled expatriates working in their companies are immediately replaced by Liberians with similar status and seeking employment opportunities, stressing.
The release quotes Minister Kruah as saying, “President Joseph Nyumah Boakai is committed to ensuring that Liberians of all categories, including skilled and unskilled, must get first preference for job placement. We cannot continue to allow our foreign investment partners to hire unskilled expatriates for jobs that Liberians are capable of performing.”
The Minister also requested companies he and his team visited to submit comprehensive employee reports, including those of both local and expatriates, including payroll disparity, managerial skills, and contract terms, for immediate review, with the aim of effecting appropriate adjustments and aligning associated benefits, mainly for Liberians already on the job and others seeking employment.
Addressing issues raised by workers, ranging from lack of food, unstable transportation, overtime benefits, salary delays, and huge disparities in benefits for local and expatriate staff, Minister Kruah ordered the companies to resolve their concerns.
At the same time, he called on workers at concessions without workplace and mother unions to begin unionizing and seeking membership with either of the many national workers’ groups under the Liberia Labor Congress (LCC) as a means of creating a smooth working relationship with management and the ministry in addressing their concerns.
Minister Kruah mandated some concession conglomerates to comply with the Decent Work Act, which stipulates a specific timeline for contractual employees to transition to full-time employment, a decent working environment, improvement in feeding, as well as hygienic conditions.
The Labor Minister wants Management to provide or improve current transportation programs for workers and refrain from deducting workers’ pay for non-work hours and days, especially when unforeseen circumstances occur.
He stressed daily work rest periods and annual leave as vital programs for workers.
Meanwhile, the management of Arcelor Mittal, AFCONS, WBHOSC, PSS, and Pvt Plant Manager, among others, assured Minister Kruah of their commitment to adhering to these mandates.
The release adds that they are committed to the full implementation of the Ministry’s ongoing labor transformation and to improving the working conditions of all of their workers without discrimination.
