TAWU Taking W&M DeGale To Court

TAWU Taking W&M DeGale To Court

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Details: Parent Category: Oct 2011; Category: Week ending Oct 22nd, 2011; Hits: 583

The Powerful and Militant Grenada Technical and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) is going to court to force the operators of W&M DeGale to abide by a 15-year old industrial agreement with their workers.

A number of workers, mainly women, have been retrenched two months ago from the company that operates a supermarket on Halifax Street in St. George’s, and are yet to receive their retroactive payment amounting to just about $200,000.00.

On Wednesday the workers, bearing placards, staged a mild protest to register their disgust over the failure of the company to pay them their money.

One of the placards read: “Mr. De Gale doh hold us responsible for your poor business decision,” while another read: “Pay us we money, we can’t wait any longer.”

President General of TAWU, Sen. Chester Humphrey told members of the media although the union has instructed Ciboney Chambers to take the matter to court they will fight on all fronts to have the matter resolved.

Sen. Humphrey said they are asking the court for a declaration of the validity of the collective agreement.

He said resulting from that declaration, they will ask the court for the workers to be paid their money.

Sen. Humphrey said under the collective agreement the workers are entitled to receive after ten years, five weeks pay for each year of service.

For the first five years, the workers are entitled to receive three weeks for each year, for over five and up to ten years they are to receive one month for each year, and for over ten years of service they will receive five weeks of payment.

According to Sen. Humphrey, the company indicated to the bargaining union that the business was floundering and is forced to have it closed.

He charged that rather than W&M DeGale honouring the collective agreement, they have found a “creative way of being dishonest.”

He spoke of the company attempting to interpret the law in a manner to escape their obligations to the former employees.

“We are empathetic. If you don’t have the money, let’s work out something. Tell me how much you could pay and we would work something out,” he said.

Sen. Humphrey said the company had indicated to them that he had a loan from their bankers that could afford them only two weeks for each year of service.

He said they had agreed that they would accept that money in good faith as part-payment, but asked for the company to inform them how they will pay the balance.

However, the President General said a twist to the industrial agreement has been advanced by the company.

He said W&M DeGale is now saying that the contract it has with the union is invalid because the person who signed the contract was not a member of the Board of Directors.

“The company performed on the basis of the contract. The rates are paid in accordance with the contract. The annual leave is given in accordance with the contract,” he said.

He said that level of dishonesty must require a response in which the union could no longer feel empathy for the company.

The President-General said the union went ahead, at the opening of the new school year last month to advance over $15,000.00 to the workers.