ABL says no rule was violated in 1999 retrenchment

Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) on Thursday said it complied with all necessary procedures before retrenching 91 employees in 1999.

Mr Raymond Stark, Managing Director, said the retrenchment was part of the restructuring exercise by the company to downsize its workforce.

He was reacting to statements at a press conference held by the ex-workers of the company in Accra that the processes of the retrenchment and payment of their benefits were contrary to the rules and laws that govern redundancy.

Mr Stark said the calculation for the payments to affected workers was in accordance with relevant provisions under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Mr Romeo Quarcoo, a spokesman for the ex-workers, said at the press conference that the Personnel Manager did not sign their redundancy letters as is usually the case, adding that the same number of people was engaged within the same period to replace them.

He said redundancy payments were calculated from 1991 and not on the number of years they had worked for the company.

Mr Quarcoo said management also refused to pay them interest on 7.5 per cent on money deducted from their salaries from 1991 to be invested.

"We were paid just the lump sum of monies deducted and not the interest on the investments that the company put our monies to.

"The local union executives who protested against this to the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of the TUC were sacked for interfering with management decisions."

Mr Quarcoo said they petitioned the then Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare on the matter and the former Deputy Minister, Mr Austin Gamey, drew the attention of management to the fact that the exercise embarked upon and the benefits paid were not in respect of End of Service Benefits.