Global Witness and the Save My Future Foundation just released a new analysis of the 2008 concession agreement between Firestone and the government of Liberia.  The press release is below and you can read the full analysis here.

Liberia needs to learn lessons from Firestone contract renegotiation

Press Release – 14/11/2008

The Liberian government needs to learn hard lessons from the renegotiation of the world's largest rubber plantation concession with the world's largest tyre and rubber company in the world [1].  Global Witness [2] and the Save My Future Foundation (SAMFU) [3] today release an analysis of a renegotiated contact [4] between Firestone and the Liberian government [5].  The analysis suggests recommended actions for the Liberian government in future contract negotiations.

The contract was first signed by the transitional government of Liberia in 2005, made up of former warring parties, despite the fact that there were still 20 years left on the previous agreement.  It was then cancelled by the present government of Liberia in 2006, reviewed and finally ratified in 2008 after only two days of public consultation by both houses of the legislature.

Areas of concern in the new contract include:

• Firestone's US-based parent company is no longer party to the contract. This means that if the contract is breached it will be more difficult for the Liberian government to pursue a remedy against the parent company.
• The new contract contains a confidentiality clause that gives both the company and the government considerable scope to keep information confidential, including payments to government. This runs contrary to best practises established by international initiatives such as the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, of which Liberia is a signatory. "Payments made by natural resource companies to governments should be transparent in order to ensure that the revenues generated are used as a basis for sustainable development in Liberia. This is a major victory to Firestone," said Seema Joshi of Global Witness.
• The government's ability to regulate in the public interest has been greatly restricted: the government cannot alter the corporate tax rate or the rent charged. "It is impossible to imagine governments with stronger bargaining powers agreeing to this," said Joshi.
• Third party rights are not recognised in the contract, so affected local people such as employees and their dependants do not have any rights to challenge the company on its contractual obligations such as issues around water supply, medical care and free education.

"The Liberian government needs to learn lessons from the weaknesses in this contract in order to ensure that greatest benefit for its citizens in future contract negotiations," said Robert Nyahn of SAMFU.

For further information:

Seema Joshi of Global Witness, currently based in Liberia: +231 (0) 77 353 104 (or subsequently: UK +44 207 561 6395); sjoshi[at]globalwitness.org

Natalie Ashworth of Global Witness: UK: +44 (0) 7968 160 377; nashworth[at]globalwitness.org

Robert Nyahn of SAMFU, who grew up on the Firestone rubber plantation: Liberia: +231 (0) 6 561 955; samfu1[at]yahoo.com

Note to Editors:

[1] Firestone is part of the largest tyre and rubber company in the world and its concession in Liberia is the world's largest rubber plantation.  Firestone Liberia Inc, the company that is party to the new agreement, is a subsidiary of Firestone Natural Rubber Company LLC, itself a subsidiary of the Japanese company Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc.  Bridgestone/Firestone make up the world's largest tyre and rubber companies.

[2] Global Witness is an investigative non-governmental organisation that focuses on the links between natural resource exploitation and conflict and was co-nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. For more information on Liberia, see Global Witness reports and briefing documents, available at www.globalwitness.org/pages/en/liberia.html.

[3]The Save My Future Foundation (SAMFU) is a Liberian non-profit, non-governmental organisation.

The mission of the Save My Future Foundation (SAMFU) is to facilitate and promote participatory community-based sustainable natural and human resource management and development in Liberia.

[4]The renegotiated contract was signed on the 22 February 2008.  A copy of the Amended Agreement is available at www.globalwitness.org.

[5] The parties to the agreement are Firestone Liberia Inc and the Government of Liberia.

Every year, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) releases an Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights.  The 2008 report was released this week based on research from 2007.  The section on Liberia (which can be found below) talks further about Firestone's rubber plantation and trade union rights.

Liberia

Apart from the implementation of the law on the right to strike, the vital reforms to labour law promised by the government have not yet materialised. At the end of the year, the Supreme Court recognised the trade union representing the 4,700 employees of the Firestone plantation, despite the management's last-minute attempts to block the recognition.

Trade union rights in law

Serious clashes between labour law and trade union rights: The ILO repeated its request that the government bring its legislation into line with conventions 87 and 98, stressing the seriousness of the following problems:

• Employees of state-run enterprises and the civil service cannot form trade unions. Agricultural workers are not allowed to join industrial unions. The government's Labour Practices Review Board has the right to supervise trade union elections.
• There are currently no adequate provisions or sanctions to guarantee workers adequate protection against discrimination during recruitment or at work, nor against interference in union affairs by employers and their organisations. Workers in state enterprises do not have collective bargaining rights.

Step towards reforming labour law: At the end of 2006, the Labour Minister promised a major reform of labour legislation. A law adopted in October 2006 that came into force in 2007 annulled Decree 12 of 1980, which had banned strikes.

Trade union rights in practice and Violations in 2007

Background: The country's infrastructure still needs to be re-built following the civil war. Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is at work and the trial of former president Charles Taylor started in The Hague. A large UN peace-keeping force is still based in the country. The lifting of embargos on wood and diamond exports is expected to re-launch the country's economy.

Repression of a strike at Firestone: On 27 April, the police brutally suppressed a strike picket at the Firestone plantation in Harbel. More than 20 strikers were hospitalised and two of them were seriously wounded. The government and local authorities denied having asked the police to intervene. According to the workers, the request had come from the Firestone management.

Deeply embedded anti-unionism: Since the establishment of a democratic government at the end of 2005, the majority of the 4,700 workers at the Firestone plantation had held various wildcat strikes to demand better working conditions and trade union elections. Firestone is the second-largest rubber plantation in the world and had often been regarded as a "law unto itself", with its own rules and a management-controlled "yellow" union. In the past, workers had died during strikes repressed by the police. But with the support of foreign trade union organisations (AFL-CIO, the United Steelworkers, ICEM, etc.), the workers began to stand up to the management despite the intimidation and violence. On 19 April, the Firestone Agriculture Workers Union (FAWU) secured an agreement from the Ministry of Labour that new trade union elections could soon be held.

New anti-union manœuvres: On 7 July, the elections were easily won by the FAWU. The "house union" and the management of Firestone then started a court case to try to cancel the result of these first free trade union elections. The management also tried hard to thwart the operations of the FAWU, not least by refusing to pass on the union fees that it was continuing to check off from workers' wages. On 21 December, the Supreme Court confirmed the result of the elections. As a result, the Firestone management had to recognise the FAWU as the union representing the workforce.

Police brutality and dismissal of strikers by the management: Exasperated by the management's refusal to recognise the union and begin collective bargaining with the union, the workers launched another strike on 4 December, which was again brutally repressed. On 6 December, several strikers were injured and the following day the police arrested 12 workers, including two FAWU leaders. Several strikers were dismissed by Firestone.

Closure of a trade union radio station: On 14 December, the police raided the offices of Stone FM, a radio station belonging to the FAWU. The radio station was shut down by the police for several hours, with no reason given, though there are strong suspicions that it was owing to the militant nature of the radio station, which the Firestone workers and their families enjoy listening to.