Workers and management of Bea Mountain Mining Company, Kinjor, Grand Cape Mount County, have resolved to reject any form of protest at the mine in the future. The management has also reinstated redundant workers and agreed not to dismiss any employee who was involved in a previous protest at the company before September 17, 2022.
This followed hours and days of negotiations between representatives of the workers union, headed by Samuel A. Roberts, and the management.
As a way to further cement cordial working relationship, the status of 116 contractors was raised to permanent employees. In addition, they will also receive all benefits, such as payment of school fees for their children, medical, insurance and monthly feeding (rice), among others.
Speaking to newsmen on Saturday, Roberts explained that the reinstated employees have been reassigned to different departments.
The signing ceremony took place over the weekend in Kinjor, and was witnessed by officials from the Bureau of Concessions, National Investment Commission (NIC) and Labor Ministry, among other stakeholders.
At the end of the negotiation, both parties agreed to the reinstatement of union officials with different assignments; change the status of 90 daily hires (casual workers) to short-term contractors, with the entitlement to all benefits (school fees, medical insurance, rice subsidy and other benefits contained in the CBA) upon signing the new consent form from the union leadership; construct a recreation site after the purchase of a parcel of land from the community; and work with a new bargaining agent (mother union).
Also, it was agreed that there would be maintenance of industrial harmony at the mine, and that there would be no strike action or lockout of any kind by the workers. More to that, It was also stated in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that the workers would continue to engage management in social dialogue in resolving their grievances, and not in any way support or lend support to any form of strike action.
For its part, the management agreed that it would not institute any form of disciplinary action against any worker who had earlier engaged in a strike action announced before September 16, 2022, construct a recreation center in Kinjor, and furnish workers with names of workers whose employment status was changed.
It can be recalled that early this year the company filed a notice of termination and redundancy of 35 Liberian employees and 16 Turkish nationals to the Ministry of Labor on ground that their assignment sites have been exhausted and there was no need for any job.
When the letter was sent, the Chairman of the workers union, Roberts, was served a copy, but he did not act within the timeframe; as such, the Labor Ministry granted Bea Mountain’s permission to effect the termination of the specific employees.
After two months of the redundancy, Roberts and Reklyatu Wayne filed with the ministry a five-count objection, which was accompanied by a notice to strike and lockdown.
In his five-count petition, Chairman Roberts called for the reinstatement of all union leaders who were illegally declared redundant and other due-paying workers, and the commencement of immediate discussion of newly exclusive bargaining agents on all matters of the CBA.
A ruling was given in the case by the Ministry of Labor. However, the workers decided to further dialogue with management after a number of them decided to embark on the strike action.
