Liberia: AML Workers’ Union Ends Strike

Workers of ArcelorMittal Liberia have ended a weeklong strike action staged in both Yekepa and Buchanan after the management agreed to address the issues raised by the aggrieved workers within two weeks.

According to a release from the Ministry of Labor, AML has committed to addressing the workers’ plights, including salary disparities and increments, as well as other issues.

“The Management of ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) has committed to addressing its workers’ concerns about salary disparity and salary increment within the next two weeks, and also promised to shortly begin the disbursement of workers’ long outstanding bonuses retroactively,” the release said.

“Jozephus Coenen, AML CEO, promised to withdraw ongoing litigation at the National Labour Court growing out of a recent adverse ruling rendered by the Minister of Labour, the release said.

But AML has yet to comment on the release. According to the release, in April 2023, the Ministry of Labour ruled in favor of the AML workers union on a long outstanding dispute bordering on salary disparity and demand for salary increments.

The ruling, accordingly, adjudged AML’s Management guilty of unfair Labour practices and ordered a 5% increment in workers’ salaries.

The AML Management took exception to the ruling and filed an Appeal to the National Labour Court, leaving the workers to respond by engaging in a strike action that jeopardized AML’s operations in Nimba and Grand Bassa counties, respectively.

The release added that the National Labour Court responded by issuing a ‘Stay Order’ against the strike, describing it as illegal.

Despite the stay order, a joint government team, comprising the Ministries of State, Labour, Mines & Energy, and the Bureau of Concessions, was on May 16, dispatched to AML’s facilities in Nimba and Grand Bassa counties to restore calm and ensure that AML’s operations in those counties are not interrupted. 

On May 10, the workers’ union began what was considered as the most anticipated ‘go-slow’ action in demand of salary increment and the settlement of salary disparity.

The aggrieved workers brought down all the mining equipment from up the mine and halted all other operations at the port of Buchanan and other places where the company is operating.

The workers’ union had been demanding equal work for equal salary from the management of ArcelorMittal on many occasions, until last December when they requested the Labor Ministry’s permission to lay down tools so as to claim AML’s attention in accordance with the decent work act.

In their letter written last year to the Ministry, the aggrieved workers said: “The United Workers Union of Liberia is constrained to bring to your attention that we have exhausted all efforts over the past months to bring AML to reaching an agreement on Annexure ‘E’ 5.1& 5.2 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which talks about salary/wages,” the letter said.

They explained in the letter that Annexure E of the CBA addresses equal work for equal salary and equal value, something they are seeking the permission of the Ministry of Labor, according to the decent work bill, to lay down all tools until their demands are met.

“We want to guide ourselves under sections 41.1 and 41.3 of the Decent Work Bill Act of 2015 to request the Ministry of Labor to strike at the AML On December 3, 2022,” they said.

The workers also addressed a letter addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of Mittal during the same period, where they said, “Over eight months since the signing of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), two key components of issues, which should have been negotiated within 90 days between two parties, have not been concluded.”

During the course of the strike, two international labor organizations; the United Steel Workers (US based) and the IndustriALL Global Union (Geneva-based) expressed their solidarity with the workers union in Liberia, also standing with them in their strike action.

In the solidarity letter sent to the UWUL and signed by the President of the United Steel Workers Mr. Thomas M. Conway, they said, “The United Steel Workers stands in solidarity with UWUL’s campaign to win justice for more than 1,300 members of UWUL Local # 4, who are currently carrying out work stoppage of ArcelorMittal Liberia.

Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the IndustriALL Global Union, Atle Høie called on the Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal, Mr. Aditya Mittal, to intervene and bring the workers to a negotiating table to bring the situation to an end.