PHOTO: Cllr. Charles Gibson
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
Liberia’s Labor Minister, Charles Gibson, says Liberia’s labor sector has been seriously hit by the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) by the laying off of large number of workers from concession companies.
According to him, many companies have reduced their workers massively and this has created serious impact on the Liberian economy, affected families of workers and the generating capacity of the government to reduce.
The Liberian Labour Minister did not give specific figure, but the number of workers laid off across Liberia during the course of 2020 is believed to be in thousands.
Minister Gibson made the disclosure at the opening of the first session of the 109th annual conference of the International Labor Organization taking place in Geneva, Switzerland over the weekend.
The Liberian Labour Minister added that the outbreak of the corona virus will also affect the way some of the labor laws will interpreted considering the prevailing situation in the country.
Cllr. Gibson pointed out that the world body has recognized that the relationship between workers and employers has seriously deteriorated as a result of the outbreak of the corona virus.
“This has adversely affected the governance of the labor sector and increase the crisis between employers and workers in many companies,” he said; adding: “workers in the informal sector are facing the blunt of violations especially those who have been retrenched without any funds to take home.”
Participants at the forum
“Lot of adjustments will have to be made to accommodate changes and challenges imposed as a result of the impact of the outbreak of the corona virus in Liberia.”
“Some of these changes and challenges will affect how we interpret our laws, regulations and even cause to make amendment in some of our laws because the corona virus has drastically changed the ways of doing things in our country.”
“For the first time that we see workers in droves sent homes, some are working from homes, businesses just closing down and serious challenges have been imposed on fund generating capacity of our government,” the Labour Minister explained.
“We hope that at the end of this conference that all governments, workers and employers come out with consensus on how we intend to address these challenges.”
For her part, the acting President of the Liberia Labor Congress, Victoria Vaskinda, thanked the Labor Ministry and ILO for making sure that the Liberia Labor Congress participates in the international conference on the problems affecting workers worldwide.
She expressed the hope that the conference will deliberate on issues affecting workers and come out with decisions that will minimize these problems.
The LLC Acting President welcomed the encouragement of dialogue among the employers, workers and the Labor Ministry in addressing issues affecting the labor sector in Liberia.
In remarks, the First Vice President of the Liberia Chambers of Commerce, Tony Hage, said the LCC welcome the deliberation bout workers and the employers and expressed the hope that deliberation will yield fruitful results.
He pointed out that the Liberia Chambers of Commerce will welcome all up dates aimed at improving the relationship between workers and employers.
The zoom conference, under the theme: “Reflecting Challenges Imposed by the Covid-19 Epidemic,” centered on impact of the Covid-19 on workers and economies of countries worldwide.