Interim Report - Report No 151, November 1975

1. 148. The complaint of the Association of Diplomatic Mission Drivers in Geneva is contained in a communication addressed to the ILO on 12 March 1974. Additional information in support of the complaint was transmitted by two further communications dated 9 April and 10 October 1974. The complaint, together with the additional information supplied, was communicated to the Government of Liberia for observations but no reply was received from the Government. Reminders were addressed to the Government on 16 October and 15 November of 1974 and on 19 March 1975, but the Government's observations have still not been received.
2. 149. Liberia has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 150. The complainants state that Mr. Femore Dorley, a Liberian citizen, had occupied for the past seven years the post of chauffeur to the Ambassador of the Liberian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. When he arrived in Geneva, Mr. Dorley became a member of the newly-formed Association of Diplomatic Mission Drivers which, on 8 August 1973, addressed to the Ambassador a claim, on behalf of Mr. Dorley, for an increase in his salary. In this communication the complainant union indicated that if the claim was not met another and better-paid job would have to be found for Mr. Dorley. The complainants transmitted photocopies of their letter to the Ambassador and of his reply, dated 16 August 1973, in which he stated that the claim could not be met, but that if Mr. Dorley was dissatisfied he was free to find employment elsewhere.
2. 151. A photocopy of a letter dated 14 August 1973, addressed to the complainant union by Mr. Dorley, in which Mr. Dorley that he was dissatisfied with his present employer and requested the union to assist him in finding another post, was also transmitted by the complainants.
3. 152. The complainants also transmitted a photocopy of a further letter dated 20 August 1973, addressed by the complainant union to the Ambassador, in which they intimated that Mr. Dorley would leave his job as chauffeur at the Liberian Mission on 30 September 1973 and that the union would undertake to find him another position.
4. 153. The complainants add that Mr. Dorley, after having his salary increased from 825 francs to 1,300 francs per month, was dismissed from his post with the Liberian Mission in February 1974. Another post was found for Mr. Dorley with the Permanent Mission of Sudan in Geneva but, according to the complainants, he was shortly thereafter dismissed after the Ambassador of Liberia had spoken about the matter with the Sudanese Ambassador.
5. 154. The complainants state that on 13 February 1974 they were invited to the Liberian Mission to discuss the case of Mr. Dorley and that in the course of the meeting the Ambassador stated that he would arrange for Mr. Dorley to leave Switzerland. According to the complainants the Ambassador had informed them that Mr. Dorley's work was satisfactory but that he had started to make claims and wanted payment for Sundays and, in addition, Mr. Dorley's membership of the complainant union was not welcome. This was followed by a formal order by the Ambassador addressed to Mr. Dorley on 13 March 1974 to present himself at Geneva airport on 16 March 1974 and board a plane scheduled for departure to Monrovia. Mr. Dorley was also informed that his passport was no longer valid, except for travel to Monrovia and that the Liberian Government had been informed of his impending departure for Monrovia. A photocopy of this communication addressed to Mr. Dorley is supplied by the complainants.
6. 155. The complainants add that Mr. Dorley did not comply with this order and that, on his behalf, they presented a formal request to the Swiss authorities for political asylum. They state that if Mr. Dorley had returned to Monrovia his personal safety would not have been guaranteed.
7. 156. In a further communication dated 10 October 1974, the complainants state that the Liberian Ambassador, by giving false information, had systematically prevented Mr. Dorley from being employed by the Permanent Missions of Nigeria, Malaysia and Bangladesh in Geneva.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 157. The Committee notes with regret that the Government of Liberia, despite the various requests to supply its observations on the allegations made against it, has failed to do so, thus preventing the Committee from being able to reach its conclusions in full knowledge of the facts. The Committee would point out in this connection that the purpose of the whole procedure is to promote respect for trade union rights in law and in fact, and the Committee considers that, if it provides a guarantee for governments against unreasonable accusations, governments on their side should recognise the importance for the protection of their own good name of formulating for objective examination detailed factual replies to such detailed factual charges as may be put forward.