GVAWU president refutes employees’ claim

The president of the Golden Veroleum Agriculture Workers Union (GVAWU) Mr. Stanley Carter has called on the management of Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL) to help identify a man named Joel Jackson who recently spoke on behalf of employees of the company.

Speaking to a group of journalists in Monrovia recently, Mr. Carter said for the past five years, he has headed the workers’ union and the name Joel Jackson does not exist in the database, noting that they are working with the management closely to know Mr. Jackson.

“We need to find Joel so that people will not be having Press Conferences around here and claiming to be from GVL. We have informed District#1 Representative in Sinoe County and we will not rest until we know who he is. And in fact, any employee who is hired to the company, copy of their employment letter comes to my office,” Carter claims.
He says though the statement made by Jackson was not bad, he however claims that Jackson is not a member of the union and therefore does not have the right to speak for the company’s employees.

Carter believes that Jackson did his own thing unilaterally and does not meet the approval of the work force of GVL.

Recently one of GVL’s employees identified as Joel Jackson called on his fellow employees and contractors doing business or working for the company to respect the rules and regulations of the company.

Jackson furthered called on management to create an enabling environment that is conducive for workers on the farms of GVL.

But the workers union president at GVL Carter says Jackson has no right to speak for employees. He says the claims made by Joel Jackson about the relationship between workers and employees fall within the responsibility of the workers’ leadership and not Jackson.

According to him, the Union has no record on Mr. Jackson and they do not know him.
Last week, the employees and contractors under the umbrella Concerned Employees for the Protection of GVL Local staffs called on their colleagues in the employ of the company to work with the company’s working manual on the job to avoid confrontation.

By Ethel A. Tweh–Edited by Winston W. Parley