Four hundred and forty workers of the Oil Palm plantation company, Golden Veroleum (GVL) are losing their jobs in two of Liberia’s southeastern counties of Sinoe and Grand Kru, the company has confirmed.
GVL made the confirmation on Monday, May 18, 2020 in a press release, citing “downturn in the global economy”, drop in the price of palm oil, poor roads and infrastructure in their area of operation.
This move comes in the wake of the economic and social crisis triggered by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Due to these factors, the company says it can’t maintain all its workers. But there has so far been no reaction from the Liberian government.
See full text of the press release below:
For Immediate Release
May 18, 2020
GVL Reduces its Workforce
Sinoe County – Golden Veroleum (Liberia) Inc. (GVL) has announced a reduction in its workforce about 440 employees across its concession areas in Sinoe and Grand Kru Counties.
The redundancy exercise cites the downturn of the global economy, including the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic happening globally and in Liberia, poor infrastructure causing the company spending high logistics cost, high vehicle and road maintenance costs, and the slumping price of palm oil on the company’s operations and unsustainable losses as the basis for reluctantly taking such measures. The workforce reduction took place in second week of May 2020.
The number of employees redundant constitutes about 10% of the company’s workforce. The company states that “the continued low crude palm oil prices, high overhead costs associated with the company’s concession agreement with the Government of Liberia, low production as a result of the company inability to expand due to a series of work stoppage, and the country’s uncertain business climate are the primary reasons for the continuing financial losses. These layoffs are the third such broad reductions since 2013.”
According to Mr. Elvis G. Morris, Vice President for Stakeholders and Sustainability, “Our employees are very important to us and making any change to our operations and employees is an incredibly difficult decision for our Management Team. We remain committed to the country and people of Liberia, and our main priority is to ensure the long-term sustainability of our operation.”
The company statement said employees who are affected by this current redundancy will be provided the appropriate severance packages in keeping with applicable laws of Liberia (Decent Work Act), and the company’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the Golden Veroleum (Liberia) Inc. Agriculture Workers Union of Liberia. The company further said it will continue to implement a number of other measures to cut costs in its operations, including streamlining of the company’s business functions to reduce expenses to improve operational efficiencies. GVL affirmed that when the company’s financial/economic status improves in future and warrants additional employment depending on the business operational requirement, employees who are affected by this redundancy may be prioritized for re-employment.
Golden Veroleum (Liberia) Inc. says it has injected millions USD into the Liberian economy through government taxes, salaries and, local purchases and, and has spent over $20 million in providing free education, healthcare, housing and security support at the local, county and national levels.