By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor
A Margibi County lawmaker is calling on Firestone Liberia to ensure that workers employed through contractors receive the same benefits outlined in the company’s concession agreement with the Government of Liberia, arguing that outsourcing should not exempt the company from its obligations to employees and their dependents.
Representative Alva Jones said the House of Representatives has begun examining the issue after a communication he submitted was read before plenary on Tuesday. According to Jones, lawmakers subsequently invited Firestone Liberia’s management, the Minister of Labor, and the Director General of the National Bureau of Concessions to appear before the Legislature to address concerns surrounding the company’s outsourcing practices.
At the center of the dispute is whether workers hired through contractors are entitled to benefits traditionally provided under Firestone’s concession agreement, including housing, healthcare, and educational support for their families.
“What we are asking them to do is to live up to what is in their concession,” Jones said.
The lawmaker argued that outsourcing departments and operational divisions does not relieve Firestone of responsibilities established under its agreement with the government. He cited provisions of the company’s restated concession agreement, approved in 2008, which he said provide for employee housing, free medical care for workers and their dependents, and free education for dependents from elementary through senior high school.
Jones contended that workers performing duties for Firestone, regardless of whether they are directly employed by the company or hired through contractors, should benefit from those protections.
However, the precise legal applicability of the cited provisions to outsourced workers remains unclear. Neither the text of the concession agreement nor an official interpretation of the provisions was available during the interview, and Firestone had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of reporting.
Jones traced the issue back to a workforce reduction that he said occurred in 2019, when Firestone allegedly declared between 600 and 700 workers redundant, representing approximately 13 percent of its workforce.
According to him, many of those workers were later rehired under tapping contracts, while several operational areas were transferred to third-party contractors. He identified Divisions 35 and 43, as well as areas within the Farmington belt, among locations he claims were outsourced.
The lawmaker alleged that the move was primarily a cost-cutting measure rather than a response to declining productivity or reduced operations. He further argued that some of the outsourced areas included newly established rubber plantations, raising questions about the justification for transferring the work to contractors.
“I am saying those cuts cannot come at the detriment of the workers,” Jones said.
He maintained that because contractors continue to operate on company property and utilize Firestone facilities and assets, workers in those areas should not be deprived of benefits tied to the concession agreement.
No independent documentation was provided during the interview to verify the extent of the outsourcing arrangements or the contractual terms governing workers employed through contractors. A major focus of Jones’ concerns is access to education for workers’ children.
He claimed that when outsourcing was introduced in 2019, dependents of contracted tapping workers were excluded from educational benefits previously available through the company. Following advocacy efforts, he said, some educational support was later extended to those families, although initially only for elementary and junior high school students.
Jones argued that the concession agreement requires educational support through senior high school and said additional interventions were needed to address the issue.
According to the lawmaker, Firestone acquired 30 buses in 2024 and 2025 to transport students from outsourced divisions to government-operated schools. He further claimed that subsequent discussions led to some students being incorporated into the company’s school system.
Despite those measures, Jones said disparities persist, particularly among dependents of workers employed by contractors in the factory.
He also raised concerns about healthcare benefits, arguing that workers performing comparable duties may receive different levels of medical coverage and employment benefits solely because of their employment status. Citing Article 18 of Liberia’s Constitution, Jones said equal work should be met with equal treatment and compensation.
Jones said the Margibi County Legislative Caucus supports efforts to review the matter and ensure that concession obligations are being honored.
While emphasizing that he is not opposed to outsourcing itself, he argued that any operational changes must not result in workers losing benefits guaranteed under existing agreements.
He also suggested that if Firestone believes the obligations have become financially burdensome, the company should pursue a formal review of the concession agreement through established legal and administrative channels.
The House of Representatives is expected to examine the matter further following its reported decision to invite Firestone officials and relevant government authorities to provide clarification.
As of publication, Firestone Liberia, the Ministry of Labor, and the National Bureau of Concessions had not publicly responded to the allegations. It also remains unclear whether the concession provisions cited by Jones legally extend to all categories of outsourced workers, an issue likely to be central to any legislative review of the dispute.
