Firestone-Liberia layoff first 200-employees

By Joseph O. Sayon

Harbel, Margibi- Amidst the high unemployment rate in the Country following the election of President George Manneh Weah, the Multi-million Dollar American Company, Firestone-Liberia has slipped 200 of its employees with redundancy.

In March 2019, the Management of Firestone Liberia issued a press release and also communicated with the Government of Liberia about its plan to redundant 800 of its workforce due to growing economic constraint couple with low production on the plantation.

The 200 affected workers were layout on Sunday, April 14, 2019 after they have been officially served their redundancy letters by the Company.

Before initiating the redundancy scheme, Firestone-Liberia had complained about low production and called for the revision of its concession agreement with the Government of Liberia to allow the Company goes into cocoa production, thereby maintaining the current workforce of the Company.

Because the government of Liberia and the Company could not reach a consensus on the revision of the Firestone-Liberia Agreement, a Trade Unionist who preferred not to be named said necessitated the Company’s action.

Since the coming into being of the George Weah led Government in 2018,this is the first ever big redundancy scheme that the Government and people of Liberia have suffered at the hands of the American Multi-Million Dollar Rubber Company.

Already, Liberia is facing high unemployment rate with no sign of company coming to invest in the Country’s economic to help with the Government job creation drive.

‘Children education in Limbo’

The redundant employees’ children future of continuing their education in the Company school system is said to be in limbo. The Company’s Management has asked the affected workers to vacate its premises within 15-days with new alternative for their children to go to school.

Children of the affected employees are expected to write their 4^th, 5th, and 6^th period test as well as final exam within the next three months.

Firestone, an indirect subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, signed a 99-year contract with the Liberian government in 1926. Its plantation covers almost 200 square miles east of the capital Monrovia.