By Makutu Manneh
The Staff Association of Alport Banjul Limited has passed a vote of no confidence in the company’s managing director and given the government and the company’s board five working days to act on its demand for his removal, escalating a labor dispute over working conditions and agreements reached during the transition of the Port of Banjul to private management.
The association announced the decision during a protest on Monday, Aug. 24, saying that months of unfulfilled commitments, poor communication, and deteriorating relations between management and employees had eroded confidence in the company’s leadership.
The association represents employees transferred from the Gambia Ports Authority to Alport Banjul Limited following the concession of the Port of Banjul.
Lamin Touray, the association’s vice chairman, said 862 employees, including workers from the Banjul Shipyard, had signed a petition expressing a lack of confidence in the current leadership.
“This decision has not been taken lightly,” Mr. Touray said, reading a statement on behalf of the workers. “It follows months of persistent difficulties, failures in implementation, inadequate communication, declining staff confidence, and, most importantly, the continued inability of the current leadership of Alport to satisfactorily implement commitments and resolutions agreed at the highest level of government.”
The association cited several grievances in support of its no-confidence vote, including what it described as management’s failure to implement government-brokered resolutions reached in June, carry out the approved 2026 staff budget, and fulfill commitments related to employee welfare.
It also accused management of failing to communicate effectively with staff representatives and said the company’s leadership had been unable to rebuild trust among workers during the transition under the port concession.
Mr. Touray sought to distinguish the workers’ grievances from opposition to the concession itself, saying employees supported efforts to modernize and develop the port.
Their objections, he said, were instead directed at what the association considers the exploitation of employees, disregard for legally protected benefits, and failure to honor agreed terms and conditions of employment.
The workers, he added, should not be treated simply as a means of maximizing profits at the expense of their rights and welfare.
Mr. Touray said the dispute was not about personalities but about governance, accountability, and the ability of management to maintain stable labor relations at one of the country’s most important economic institutions.
“Industrial peace requires implementation, accountability, and trust,” he said, warning that the absence of those conditions had increased the possibility of renewed labor unrest.
The association called on the government and Alport’s board to take the petition seriously, pointing to the number of employees who had endorsed the no-confidence motion.
“Can the confidence of 862 employees be disregarded in order to retain one individual in office?” Mr. Touray asked.
The association said that if the government and the board failed to take what it considered meaningful action within five working days, it would regard the inaction as further evidence that the concerns of employees — as well as the resolutions previously brokered by the government — were not being treated with sufficient urgency.
“The Association will then reserve its right to pursue all lawful administrative, regulatory, industrial and legal avenues available to protect the interests of transferred staff and to compel compliance with the applicable agreements, resolutions and obligations,” Mr. Touray said.
He did not specify what steps the association might take after the deadline.
Despite the ultimatum, Mr. Touray said workers remained interested in resolving the dispute peacefully and without further disruption.
Their preferred outcome, he said, was a “quiet, peaceful and orderly resolution,” but he cautioned that industrial peace could not be sustained indefinitely through promises that were not followed by action.
The association also reaffirmed its commitment to Alport Banjul Limited and the continued operation and development of the Port of Banjul, saying the facility was too important to the Gambian economy to be repeatedly disrupted by labor disputes.
It called for agreements with workers to be honored, employee rights to be protected and industrial stability to be restored.
The managing director, Alport’s board and the government did not immediately respond to the allegations and demands outlined by the association.
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