Former Graphic Workers go to Court on Feb 12

Accra, Feb. 08, GNA - Mr. Ray Kakrabah Quarshie, an Accra Legal Practitioner, will on Tuesday, February 12, move a "Motion on Notice for Determination of Doubts as to Finality of Judgement" at the Supreme Court (SC), on behalf of 155 former employees of the Graphic Communications Group, which were re-deployed in October 1993. This has become necessary because the Corporation has failed to implement the court's judgement delivered on July 13, 2005, ordering it to pay its former employees their lawful entitlements. In its July 13 judgement, the SC stated, among other things, that,

"the parties can apply to this court in case of any irresolvable difficulties for directions."

The suit will on February 12, pray the SC for further directions as directed in that judgment. When Graphic re-deployed the 155 workers in 1993, it paid compensation packages of two and four months' salaries respectively to its junior and senior employees, irrespective of the number of years they had served.

Not satisfied with the package, the ex-workers took the matter to the High Court, and in 1995, the presiding judge, Mr Justice Gyamerah Tawiah ruled in their favour.

Six months later, Graphic challenged the High Court's decision at the Court of Appeal, and the matter was transferred to the SC in 2004 for proper interpretation of the High Court's judgment. Since the SC's decision of July 2005, the Corporation had still not complied with the court's order, thus compelling its ex-workers to take the matter back to the SC for further directions.