Definitive Report - Report No 253, November 1987

1. 59. The National Agricultural and Allied Workers' Union (NAAWUL) submitted its original complaint on 9 May 1983. The Committee on Freedom of Association has examined the case on four occasions, most recently in May 1987 (see 251st Report, paras. 357 to 372) when its interim conclusions were approved by the Governing Body at its 236th Session.
2. 60. The Government supplied further information on the outstanding allegations in this case in a communication dated 18 June 1987, and transmitted a copy of the General Auditing Office's audit of NAAWUL's accounts during the 73rd Session of the International Labour Conference, June 1987.
3. 61. Liberia has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No.87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No.98).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 62. When the Committee first examined the case in February 1984 (see 233rd
2. Report, paras. 628 to 658), it noted, inter alia, that the complainant
3. organisation had had its activities suspended in November 1982 by the
4. Government while an audit was being conducted into the union's accounts
5. following a request to this end from the union itself in the face of internal
6. accusations and suspicions of embezzlement. This suspension allegedly delayed
7. settlement of NAAWUL's bargaining dispute with the Firestone Plantations
8. Company.
9. 63. In May 1984, when the Committee next examined the allegations (see 234th
10. Report, paras. 585 to 611), the Committee observed that the complainant
11. remained under suspension orders although the audit had been concluded, and
12. urged that the suspension be lifted without delay; it also requested
13. information, inter alia, regarding settlement of the dispute with the
14. Firestone Plantations Company.
15. 64. When the Committee examined the case in November 1985 (See 241st Report,
16. paras. 551 to 563.), it noted with interest that the suspension had been
17. lifted in October 1984 and, while recalling the importance of Article 4 of
18. Convention No. 87, closed this aspect of the case. As regards industrial
19. relations within the Firestone Plantations Company, the Committee noted that a
20. collective agreement had been concluded with the company's employees' council
21. and requested information as to NAAWUL's role in these negotiations.
22. 65. At its most recent examination of the case, the Committee noted that an
23. employees' council had been elected to replace NAAWUL during the period of its
24. suspension and had proceeded to negotiate a collective agreement current from
25. November 1983 to November 1985. The Committee considered that in the
26. circumstances the complainant union had been effectively deprived of any
27. opportunity to represent its members in negotiations. It drew the Government's
28. attention to the principles of freedom of association arising from Article 4
29. of Convention No. 87, and in particular to the principle that the suspension
30. of trade union organisations by administrative authority constitutes a serious
31. restriction of the right of workers' organisations to elect their leaders in
32. full freedom and to organise their administration and activities. It also
33. requested the Government to reply speedily to new allegations which had been
34. submitted by the complainant in March 1987.
35. 66. The Governing Body approved the Committee's recommendations on the case,
36. in particular, that it trusted that the Government would take all the steps
37. necessary to give effect to the principles of freedom of association arising
38. from Article 4 of Convention No. 87 and especially those designed to ensure
39. that elections and negotiations take place in full freedom.
40. B. New allegations submitted by the complainant
41. 67. In a letter dated 31 March 1987, the NAAWUL alleges that the Liberia
42. Federation of Labour Unions (LFLU) - in spite of the pending collective
43. agreement between NAAWUL and Firestone and in collaboration with the Minister
44. of Labour - signed another collective agreement without the knowledge of and
45. against the interests of the Firestone workers. It alleges that this illegal
46. contract violates sections 4600, 4601 and 4601-A of the Liberian Labour Law.
47. 68. According to the NAAWUL, the LFLU has collaborated with the Minister of
48. Labour to help the employer continue to exploit the workers, in particular
49. through avoiding payment of $2.60 which Firestone allegedly illegally deducted
50. from the daily wages of the workers and an 11 cent increment which NAAWUL had
51. obtained in the original April 1982 negotiations. NAAWUL points out that the
52. Ministry of Labour's arbitration of the April 1982 deadlocked negotiations had
53. held that the employer's deduction of this $2.60 for housing, medical
54. services, rice, etc., violated a ruling of the late President of Liberia. From
55. the newspaper clippings attached to the complaint, it appears that the new
56. collective agreement between the LFLU and Firestone was signed on 19 January
57. 1987 and covered wage increases for rubber tappers, labourers and classified
58. workers as from 1 January 1987.
59. C. The Government's further observations
60. 69. In a communication dated 18 June 1987, the Government denies the
61. allegations and explains that, in August 1986, when the collective agreement
62. between Firestone and its employees' council was about to expire, NAAWUL
63. petitioned the Ministry of Labour to conduct a referendum to ascertain whether
64. the employees' council still enjoyed the confidence of Firestone workers. The
65. Ministry accordingly called for a referendum, but the employees' council was
66. granted a writ of prohibition against such action by the Supreme Court. The
67. collective agreement remained in force until September when a representation
68. election was conducted and won by the Firestone Agricultural Workers' Union
69. (FAWU), a member of the Liberia Federation of Labour Unions. NAAWUL did not
70. contest the election or challenge its results. Subsequently, a new collective
71. agreement was concluded and the Ministry's only action was to attest to the
72. agreement at the request of both parties.
73. 70. The Government recalls that there had been no collective bargaining
74. agreement between NAAWUL and Firestone, but that their April 1982 negotiations
75. had deadlocked. The Ministry had been invited by the parties to look into the
76. matter and NAAWUL had been temporarily suspended during the audit of its
77. accounts; during the suspension, the Firestone workers elected an employees'
78. council and when its collective agreement with Firestone expired, the workers
79. unanimously elected the FAWU. The Government stresses that the Ministry did
80. not play any part in having FAWU elected as representative of the workers.
81. 71. The Government denies ever having collaborated with the Liberia
82. Federation of Labour Unions to exploit Firestone employees. It is unaware of
83. any obligation on Firestone to repay $2.60 deducted from the daily wages of
84. its workers. It also denies knowledge of an 11 cent increment awarded in
85. favour of Firestone employees in April 1982. According to the Government,
86. there was no collective agreement in force for the company until that which
87. was concluded with the employees' council.
88. 72. Lastly, the Government repeats that it merely attested the collective
89. agreement reached between Firestone and the FAWU because both parties so
90. requested. If the existence of a lawful collective bargaining agreement is
91. condemned by NAAWUL, states the Government, it is just unfortunate.
92. 73. From the copy of the audit report supplied by the Government in June
93. 1987, it appears that the NAAWUL Secretary-General, Treasurer and Workers'
94. Education Director, were requested to account for a total of approximately
95. $20,000 worth of union funds, and the union was recommended to organise a
96. better record-keeping system. According to the audit, only $2,606.65 of this
97. sum represented unaccounted for money from the WCL donation to the NAWWUL. No
98. criminal proceedings were recommended or were commenced in connection with the
99. audit.

D. The Committee's conclusions

1. 74. The Committee notes that the outstanding aspect of this case revolves
   • around the legality of the most recently concluded collective agreement for
   • employees of the Firestone Plantations Company: the complainant still claims
   • to represent the workers involved, whereas the Government states that the
   • organisation which signed on behalf of the workers, the Firestone Agricultural
   • Workers' Union linked to the Liberia Federation of Labour Unions, was
   • entitled to do so following a representation election in September 1986 which
   • was neither contested nor challenged at the time by the complainant.
2. 75. The Committee observes that the Firestone workers appear to have changed
   • exclusive bargaining agents twice in recent years, having elected NAAWUL as
   • sole bargaining agent in May 1981 and having been represented by it in
   • unsuccessful negotiations in 1982, then being represented by the Firestone
   • employees' council during the suspension of NAAWUL and for two years after the
   • suspension was lifted, and then, since September 1986 by the Firestone
   • Agricultural Workers' Union. The Committee, in its most recent interim
   • conclusions on this case, in the absence of detailed information, criticised
   • the initial administrative suspension of NAAWUL which effectively deprived it
   • of any opportunity to represent its members in negotiations.
3. 76. Given the details now before the Committee, and noting that the Committee
   • of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations has not
   • called into question the Liberian system of designating sole bargaining
   • agents, it would appear that the situation of NAAWUL has substantially changed
   • since it became free to resume its activities. Since its suspension was lifted
   • in October 1984 NAAWUL appears to have lost support among Firestone workers to
   • the extent that the union did not even contest the results of the
   • representation election in September 1986 when, it seems, the Firestone
   • Agricultural Workers' Union was chosen by the workers to represent them.
4. 77. The complainant gives no information as to its current membership
   • strength in the Firestone Plantations Company nor does it argue that the union
   • which presently represents the workers is numerically unrepresentative. It
   • states however, that the FAWU works "in collaboration with the Minister of
   • Labour" to exploit the employees in question. This allegation is not supported
   • by detailed evidence. Moreover, the Government directly denies it, specifying
   • that the exploitation charge is baseless as there was never any agreed bargain
   • or award concerning repayments or increments. The Committee observes from a
   • perusal of the 1982 advisory opinion given by the Director of Trade Union
   • Affairs (who had been chosen to conciliate certain items of negotiation which
   • were deadlocked), and accompanying documents that Firestone never accepted
   • this ruling. Moreover, NAAWUL did not use the legislative possibility of
   • pursuing its claims through binding arbitration. The Committee therefore
   • considers that no useful purpose would be served by examining this aspect of
   • the case further.
5. 78. The questions raised in the present case, the Committee observes, are
   • linked to the comments expressed by the Committee of Experts on the lack of
   • clear and precise provisions in the current Liberian Labour Law to protect
   • workers' organisations adequately against acts of interference as required by
   • Article 2 of Convention No. 98 (see the 1987 observation made by that body
   • under Convention No. 98). The Committee of Experts has also criticised one of
   • the legislative provisions referred to very briefly by the complainant in its
   • new allegations: section 4601-A prevents agricultural workers from joining
   • industrial unions, and is mentioned in the Committee of Experts' 1987
   • observation under Convention No. 87. In this connection the Committee notes
   • that the Government informed the 1987 Conference Committee on the Application
   • of Conventions and Recommendations that a draft Revised Labour Code (prepared
   • with ILO assistance and revised by a tripartite committee) had taken into
   • account all the comments of the Committee of Experts. In particular, the
   • Government undertook to adopt the new legislation before the next
   • International Labour Conference.