The Board of Directors of the Liberia National Tailor Textiles Garments and Allied Workers Union (LNTTGAWU) has categorically denied report of its reinstatement of its suspended President, Edison Carlon.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rymah Mulbah, said the report is false and misleading, and is intended to undermine the authority of the Board of Directors as enshrined in Articles 17 of the bylaws of the institution.
According to Board Chairman Mulbah, the constitution also gives the Board of Directors the authority to approve all budgetary proposals to appoint auditors of LNTTGAWU and consider audited financial reports, and that these constitutional provisions have been breached by Carlon.
According to him, Edison Carlon has deliberately refused to recognize and respect the authority of the board, and he has breached the bylaws and constitution by failing to submit his reports to the board, which is the highest decision-making organ of the LNTTGAWU in the absence of a convention.
He said instead of ensuring that the constitution of the LNTTGAWU is protected, Carlon chose to go to the Ministry of Labor to shield him while he is yet to account for US$4,000 given to the union by the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA) for the production of nose masks. He added that US$5,000 was also given by UNICEF for the production of the same nose masks, but the worst of all Carlon has brought the union to public disrepute by failing to acquire an office space for the union.
In a release issued over the weekend, the Board of Directors of LNTTGAWU said, “We want to send a caveat that the Ministry of Labor cannot run the day-to-day activities of the LNTTGAWU; as such, it does not have the right to impose any individual on the union and to sideline or ignore the constitutional provisions of the union.
“The mandate from the Ministry of Labor, through the office of the Deputy Minister for Manpower Planning and Human Resource Development to reinstate Mr. Edison Carlon is rejected by the Board of Directors. This is a mere attempt to mislead Mr. Carlon and to encourage financial malpractices, administrative misconduct and breach of the union’s constitution.
“The Board of Directors of the LNTTGAWU has reaffirmed the appointment of Mr. Ezekiel S. Kamara as the Acting President of the union and still reposed the confidence in him to take the union to convention.
“We are prepared to challenge the decision of the Ministry of Labor at the National Labor Court, as we have already contacted our lawyers to ensure that the appropriate legal actions are instituted.”