Former Employees of LIBTELCO Plead With Liberian Leader To Pay Over US$500K Redundancy Benefits

Monrovia – Former employees of the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation, who were redundant back in 2006, have launched an appeal to President George Weah, calling on him to mandate the management of the corporation to make available their benefits which includes rice benefits and salary arrears. The workers claim LIBTEL owes them arrears for 2005 and 2006 which amount to US$574,348. 

In a January 28, 2020 letter to the state-owned company, the workers submitted several documents to the Board Chair of the LIBTELCO, Cllr. Alexander K. Zoe, outlining their claims. The letter, signed by officials of the former workers union including its president Rev. Isaac Zotoe, alleged that the company has refused to pay their benefits because it claims they had “waived the money to the management,” something the former workers termed as untrue.

“When the union over 12 years could not find justice, we decided to complain the management to the honorable House of Representatives and the House of Senate to prevail on the management for our payment,” the letter stated.

“Having gone through the matters by the House Standing Committee on Labour , [the committee] recommended to the plenary to mandate the management to pay the former workers since there was no documents to prove the waiver of the two years benefits, and that was in 2018.”

The letter furthered informed LIBETLCO’s Board Chair that the 54^th Legislature mandated the management to “settle our arrears”, while calling on Cllr. Zoe “to do all you can to settle this matter and bring it to an end once and for all”.

Responding to the aggrieved former workers, Cllr. Zoe said their claims were “discussed as an agenda item” during the corporation’s board meeting held on February 11, 2020.

“The Board resolved that the Corporation should revert to the Honorable Legislature, to meet and discuss ways in which the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning can empower the Corporation to make payments to the union against said claims,” Cllr. Zoe wrote in her response.

She then assured the workers that a pending meeting with the House’s Committee on Telecoms was to “amicably resolve this issue”, adding that “once this meeting is convened, we will be able to revert to you with our final position on your claims in the shortest possible time”.

But it has been more than five months and the former workers are yet hear back from the management of LIBTELCO.

The issue about the former workers’ claims have been lingering for over a decade with the former administration of Madam Sirleaf leaving the situation unresolved. A protracted judicial process left the workers further frustrated after the Labour Court handed down an unfavorable judgment that left them disappointed.

The court’s decision then constrained the formers workers to turn to the House of Representatives. In 2017, the House investigated the matter and recommended that the corporation pays the former workers’ two years rice and salary benefits.

“The Labour committee craves the indulgence of leadership to compel LIBTELCO to pay the 2005 and 2006 Economic and Rice benefits to the former workers of the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LIBTELCO) amounted to US$574, 348 inclusive of count expertise and transportation used to seek justice. This, in the committee’s wisdom, will alleviate the poverty inflicted upon the workers for the past 10 years,” stated the report, which was signed by the then Committee’s chairman Christian S. Chea, Sr.,

In 2018, the situation took a new twist that looked favorable for the former workers. LIBTELCO Managing Director, Richmond N. Tobii, in a letter to House Speaker Bhofal Chambers, disclosed that the corporation had written the Ministry of Finance to allocate the amount to cover the former workers’ benefits.

In an August 31, 2018 letter to Finance Minister Samuel Tweah, Mr. Tobii stated that LIBETCO was “politically constrained” to request US$568,748 to cover 14 months rice benefits and 16 months economic benefits for the former workers.

Mr. Tobii’s letter to Minister Tweah, although was a request for payments to the workers, presented an argument that the Legislature’s mandate to the corporation was a “usurpation of judicial functions” since the case had already been heard by the Labour Court.

“As previously mentioned in reference to ‘political constraints’, again, I seek provisioning from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning in executing the mandate received on August 21, 2018,” LIBTELCO Managing Director letter to Minister Tweah concluded.

It has been almost two years since the communication was sent to the MFDP, but the former workers are yet to receive their benefits, thus pushing them to write President Weah to intervene. The former workers are hopeful that because President Weah is also a former employee of the state-owned corporation, he would hear their cry and intervene accordingly.

“Mr. President and former worker as we are, we have gone through so many subjective conditions as professional men and women of a noble institution that is responsible in linking our country to the rest of the world,” the workers stated in the letter to President Weah, adding that they have remained “very civil” for the past 13 years in engaging the past and current management of LIBTELCO but to no avail.

“We as former workers just as you are, are appealing to you to kindly get involved with such condition, we have done everything humbly possible as professional men and women to put this behind us once and for all, but it is difficult. As we write this communication, there are several deaths, sicknesses and other challenging conditions face by our former workers, we are appealing to your government through your good office to please help us receive our two years and just benefits.”