Court to rule on ex-ABC workers case on
April six
Court to rule on ex-ABC workers case on
April six
Tema (Greater Accra) 23 March 2001
A Tema High Court presided over by Mrs Felicity Amoah, will decide on April six, whether 647 ex-employers of the former Achimota Brewery Company (ABC), are entitled to their full severance awards after the company was divested in 1992.
This follows a suit brought against the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), by the workers who are arguing that their severance award should be based on the number of years served as stipulated in their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), instead of the 14 months flat rate offered them.
Mr Justice E. K. Jones-Mensah, counsel for the ex-workers argued that the workers who served between two to 23 years petitioned the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHIRAJ), for redress but it could not settle the matter.
He said the plaintiffs claimed that their entitlements were underpaid and thus cheated out of their rights.
The DIC is however arguing that the 14 months salary as severance pay for each employee was arrived at after negotiations at the Ministry of Employment with the workers.
It said the workers were at that time represented by Mr S. A. X. Tsegah, a solicitor and their union and the amount given them was just and fair.
The negotiations did not therefore contradict NLCD 342, which says that severance award shall always be a subject of negotiations.
The DIC said the plaintiffs do not belong to the class of workers whose severance pay need to be computed based on length of service.
The court, in a similar case last Tuesday, ordered the payment of full severance awards to 980 ex-employees of the former State Construction Corporation (SCC), when DIC's lawyer agreed in principle that the DIC has no defence.
GRi…/
Send your comments to news@ghanareview.com