New Democrat (Monrovia)
4 June 2011
The shipment of the very first consignment of iron ore from Liberia by ArcelorMittal, planned for 15 June 2011, may not take place as scheduled, as members of the company’s worker union have threatened to block that if their demands, including the release of the wage scale, are not met.
The workers union at the company is demanding a wage bill, which entails direct Mittal employment as against the company’s current scheme of subcontracting many of its jobs and thus freeing itself from obligations in the Mineral Development Agreement with the government.
According to the Agreement, 20% of the top management jobs in the first quarter should go to Liberians, while 40% of the other jobs are also reserved for Liberians.
But sources say these provisions are being circumvented because Mittal has hired subcontractors who argue that they are not bound by these provisions.
Amos Monweh, secretary general of the ArcelorMittal Workers Union, said via mobile phone that the company must be prepared to put forth a wage scale in order for the Union to engage in the Collective Bargaining which is to shortly take place, noting, “In the absence of this, the shipment of Iron Ore by ArcelorMittal will not be possible.”
He said the company, despite repeated requests from the Union for a wage scale to be shown, has refused to do so, noting further: “We are of the belief that the management doesn’t want to agree that there are more qualified Liberians who are providing those professional services, instead of paying US$35,000 to US$50,000 to one foreign employee, while US$200 or less is given to a Liberian who has similar expertise.”
The employees of the Indian-owned global giant steel company say they are disappointed in the management for its level of ‘don’t care’ attitude towards the Liberian workforce regarding the payment of wages and other benefits.
Making reference to three Liberians who were sent to South Africa for training as locomotive operators, Mr. Monweh said they are back and now being used as under men and receiving less than what they should be paid, while foreigners who are also trained in similar capacity are paid triple the amount their Liberian counterparts earn.
“For this reason we are calling on the management to come forth and provide us with the our salary structure; this will enable us to know what we are ought to in terms of what we should make at the end of each month.
For his part, the President of the ArcelorMittal Workers Association, Chea Romeo Brooks criticized both the management and the Liberian government for not paying attention to the plight of the workers, adding, “We are calling on the Ministry of Labor to prevail on ArcelorMittal give us what is considered as international acceptable wage scale. It is important for us to know our wage scale,” he urged.
A recent tour of the government’s monitoring of the company ended in no evidence regarding compliance with these and other provisions. Mittal’s officials said documents relating to these provisions are in London.
And efforts to get the Administrative and Human Resources Manager, Emmanuel Dolo, proved fruitless as his mobile phone was perpetually switched off; however, one government official told this paper that workers had previously warned they would protest any shipment pending discussion on their demands.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Continued here:
Mittal Stumble