Asare Original Pay All checkers demand compensation

Kumasi, June 22, GNA--The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) is looking into the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the entire female checkers at the Asokwa office of the Asare Original Pay All, a popular gambling establishment.

The checkers claimed being given a raw deal by the management of the company which sacked them without any compensation after more than three years? service.

They are therefore claiming compensation from the company for wrongful dismissal in accordance with the labour laws of the country. Speaking to the press in Kumasi, Miss Margaret Boateng and Miss Victoria Ameko, spokespersons for the group said they were not paid their salaries for the months of February, March and April, 1999.

They said when on April 27 they asked for their salaries they were asked to go to the Asawase offices of the company the next day, April 28, which they did. According to the spokespersons, when they got to the Asawase office, they were surrounded by armed policemen from the Buffalo unit who gave them sheets of paper to write their names before they were paid.

They said soon after the salaries were paid, they were told that they had been sacked." We therefore reported the matter to the Labour Department which failed to resolve the issue "

The workers said they finally went to the CHRAJ to seek redress. Mr Ofori Ohenaku, a director of the company confirmed that CHRAJ was handling the matter but denied that the checkers had been sacked.

He explained that due to financial problems, the company found it difficult to pay its workers and after struggling to pay them, they were asked to stay home.