By Othello Sarweh Nimely
MONROVIA–For years, workers in Liberia have increasingly been forced to take their grievances to the public before receiving salaries they have already earned, raising concerns about the treatment of employees and the growing difficulty many workers face in getting paid on time.
The latest incident occurred on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, when employees of Ricks Institute took to the institution’s campus carrying placards and demanding payment of salaries they say have been withheld for between six and nine months.
The aggrieved workers, who occupy various positions across the institution, including academic teachers, maintenance workers and other support staff, gathered on the campus to press the administration to settle their outstanding salaries.
Speaking to reporters, the head of the protesting workers, Roland Kamara, said the salary issue at the institution has persisted for several years.
Kamara alleged that since 2024, the administration has repeatedly failed to fully settle workers’ salaries, often allowing the school year to end before appealing to employees to return for a new academic semester.
He said the situation has become particularly difficult since the beginning of the 2025/2026 academic year, with some workers allegedly going several months without receiving any salary.
“Whenever we go to the administration to ask about our salaries, we are always given excuses,” Kamara said, expressing frustration over what he described as a prolonged failure to address the workers’ concerns.
According to him, the employees have reached a point where they can no longer remain silent while continuing to work without being paid.
Kamara said the workers will continue their protest until the administration makes satisfactory arrangements to settle their outstanding salaries.
The protesters also warned that if their salaries are not paid, they could prevent the institution from reopening for the next academic term and also disrupt the upcoming graduation program.
Others individuals also complained of volunteering for over five years without employment.
The workers said they have continued performing their duties despite the financial difficulties caused by the delayed payments, but stressed that they can no longer accept working for months without receiving their wages.
Speaking on the matter, the administration of Ricks Institute said it had agreed to pay the workers two months of their outstanding salaries.
However, the administration said the workers rejected the offer because they are demanding payment of the full amount owed to them.
The disagreement has left the two sides at an impasse, with the workers insisting that they should receive all salaries earned rather than accept a partial payment.
The employees are now calling on the Liberian government, particularly the Ministry of Labour, to intervene in the dispute and ensure that their rights as workers are protected.
The protest has once again brought public attention to the broader issue of delayed salary payments in Liberia, where workers in both the public and private sectors have at times resorted to protests and public appeals to demand wages owed to them.
For the Ricks Institute employees, the message from Tuesday’s protest was clear: they want to be paid for the work they have already done and are calling for government intervention before the dispute further escalate
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