Coca-Cola workers protest over unfair dismissal of colleagues

Workers of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company Limited in Ghana have protested at the premises of the company following the alleged dismissal of about 30 of their colleagues.

According to them, the management of the company did not follow due process in laying off the said workers.

The General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union, Solomon Kotei who was at the place to solidarize with the protesting staff said the union will ensure that justice is served to the workers.

“In our history, this is the first time an employer lays off workers without using due process. The law requires that when a company is going to carry out such an exercise, the number of people to be affected should be known, again, the criteria of selection for those to be laid-off should be set clearly. All these have not been done.”

“And to think that they issued a letter admitting to not following due process, this does not create a safe environment for any worker here. Our mission here is to get management of Coca-Cola to do the right thing.”

The company announced in a statement dated August 31, 2020, which was signed by the Business Unit Managing Director WAC of the Company, Felix Gomis bemoaned the impact of COVID-19 on its returns.

It thus notified of an impending step to lay off workers.

According to the statement, this declaration of redundancy has come about due to challenges faced by the company over the years “exacerbated by the COVID-19 scourge and the numerous industrial actions experienced in the last few months”.

“In accordance with the provisions of Section 65 of the Labour Act 2003 (ACT 651), management has notified the Chief Labour Officer of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations of the company’s intention to declare a redundancy which will affect the employment of a number of employees,” it added.

It, however, indicated that it will only be implemented after the leadership of the respective trade unions have agreed to the terms and conditions of the severance package.