980 former SCC workers sue for entitlements

A total of 980 former employees of the State Construction Company Limited (SCC) who were laid off after the divestiture of the company have filed a writ at a Tema High Court demanding the full payment of their entitlements.

The writ, which is against the Divestiture Implementation Committee and the Attorney-General as a representative of the Government, is also asking for interest on the money at current bank rates from January 1998 to the date of payment.

In their statement of claim filed on their behalf by Mr Justice E.K. Jones-Mensah, the workers said the DIC failed to pay them their severance awards at the rate prescribed in Article 43 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed with the company.

According to the CBA, each employee was entitled to a severance award fixed at two months gross salary for each completed year of service in the event of closure.

The DIC, however, imposed an unlawful agreement on the workers, which pinned a flat rate of 18 months' pay on each worker, irrespective of their length of service.

The writ said neither plaintiffs nor defendants had any capacity under the law to agree to a variation to the terms of the CBA to the detriment of the former.

It said in January 1998, the DIC, acting on behalf of the government, closed down the SCC in which the government had interest to facilitate the divestiture of the company.

They argued that by virtue of the divestiture, all outstanding unpaid liabilities, obligations and debts of the SCC were automatically vested in the defendants for settlement.