The management of APM Terminal Liberia has been ordered by the National Labor Court to reinstate 24 employees who were suspended and locked out of the company’s facilities as a result of their protest over working conditions.
The court, in a communication to its clerk, requested the sheriff to serve a notice of temporary restraining order on the company’s management, stating that they are ordered to reinstate the 24 employees, which the Minister of Labor, Cllr. Charles Gibson, had earlier directed.
Justice Minister, Frank Musa Dean, on May 4, 2021 reinforced the Labor Ministry’s mandate to have the employees reinstated pending a complete resolution of the concerns of all the parties.
Minister Dean said the “urgent injunction”, which is in accordance with the Decent Work Act of 2015, became necessary because the government was concerned that the lockout action of APM Terminals and the attendant go-slow by the employees were affecting economic activities at the Freeport of Monrovia, “thus creating a serious security problem for the state”.
He notified the company then of the government’s intention to go to court to “compel management to immediately and unconditionally reinstate the 24 employees to avert any further threat to national security and the Liberian economy”.
Some aggrieved employees of the company, with support from the Dock Workers Union, have been staging protests in demand of better working conditions, including unpaid leave allowances, medical insurance and food allowance.