The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Ltd is set to lay off a number of staff following a collapse in business that has been made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision to lay off the workers was announced in a memo signed by Felix Gomis, the company’s business unit managing director for West African countries.
The company said it has already informed the chief labour officer of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations of the impending layoffs.
“The leadership of the respective trade unions, ICU [the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union] and UNICOF [the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers], have in accordance with law been notified, and management will be with them to discuss the terms and conditions of the severance,” the memo said.
Redundancy pay
Coca-Cola Ghana however said that redundancy pay will be given to all workers affected.
The company said the severance package will be communicated to the relevant workers following an agreement between management and the unions.
“In accordance with Section 65 (2), all affected employees shall receive a ‘redundancy pay’ and in lieu of notice, payment shall be made for the notice period, where necessary,” the memo said.
It added: “After the unions and the management have agreed to the terms and conditions of the severance package, the details shall be communicated to the affected staff through their line managers.
“In the meantime, management expects all staff to continue to carry out their obligations in accordance with the existing collective agreements and the Labour Act 2003 until the effective date of termination.”
Protecting workers
Meanwhile, the ICU says it will strive to save the jobs of as many workers of Coca-Cola Ghana as possible.
The union said it will open discussions with the company to ensure that the number of workers to be laid off is sharply reduced.
“The onus is on the employer to justify why he wants X number of people to go or why you want to do what you want to do. The union also has the right to draw the employer’s attention,” Solomon Kotie, secretary general of the ICU said.
“What is happening at Coca-Cola we’ve not even had a first meeting with the negotiating committee and this thing has leaked to the public … but for us, we will ensure that as many of the workers we can save, we will.
“Those that by reason of reorganisation they think … have to go, they will also get their due package accordingly.”
Coca-Cola has resorted to cutting jobs from its various companies across the world, having been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The beverage company laid off 750 workers in the United States in March. A thousand more jobs are expected to be scrapped in the coming months.
E A Alanore
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