Liberians complain Lebanese motor company

Liberian contractors working with Lebanese – owned car dealer Tayo Motors (Lib) in Oldest Congo Town are alleging that the management of the entity is exploiting them.

A contractor workers’ representative who begs for anonymity for fear of threat, has told this paper that Tayo Motor’s General Manager Mr. Salah Farhat continues to allegedly violate Liberian workers’ rights to Decent Work.

The Liberian workers allege that several of them who have worked with the company for five to seven years are being denied employment letters, working identification cards, defined job descriptions, leave and increment in wages, among other things.

The contractors’ spokesperson notes that the company has failed to implement the Decent Work Act as directed by the Government of Liberia to redesign their scope of operations by prioritizing workers’ interest since the law came into effect in 2016.

Tayo Motors (Lib) which prior to relocating to Oldest Congo Town had previously operated on Randall Street, opposite the St. Theresa Convent High School in Monrovia, is also alleged to have suspended workers off the job without any warning or suspension document.

The aggrieved contractors narrate that both the company’s General Manager Farhat and his son who is the company’s Administrative Manager, Tamia Farhat, have allegedly continued to knock on workers during working hours with impunity.

They are calling on the Ministry of Labor to intervene in their plight by ensuring that the company’s management changes their status as provided for by the Decent Work Act.

When contacted Monday, 19 February via mobile phone on the workers claims, the General Manager Mr. Salah Farhat told the NewDawn that “If the workers want to go to the Ministry of Labor, that is not a big issue”.

By Emmanuel Mondaye–Edited by Winston W. Parley