By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
EIGHTEEN MONTHS after Western Cement Co., Maggoty, St. Elizabeth, closed down its operations suddenly, more than 50 former production workers were paid on Friday in a $2-million package.
But some of the displaced workers who turned up at the plant in Maggotty on Friday to collect their ex gratia payments, were upset about the amounts they received from the company which produced limestone.
"Many of them complained openly that the money was much less than what was owed to them. They are upset that they have had to settle for ex gratia payments instead of getting the redundancy and notice payments owed to them," Leaford Vassell, former welder and union delegate with Western Cement, told The Gleaner.
"I, however, had to explain to them that it was the best settlement the union could work out with the company, since the company had not yet been sold."
The cash-strapped company, which provided limestone to sections of the bauxite/alumina industry, was placed in receivership by the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ) after it failed to meet its loan obligations to the bank.
At least $3.2 million in redundancy payments and money-in-lieu of notice was owed to the employees, but NIBJ, the debenture owners of Western Cement, had for months insisted that it could not afford to pay the employees, until the company was sold.
Last week, Western Cement agreed to ex-gratia payments in lieu of redundancy after more than a year of repeated negotiations with the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU).
This came after a ruling by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal in June, stipulating that the company honour its financial obligations to the former employees.
Western Cement which has been in receivership for almost a year, is expected to change hands by next month.
Noting that negotiations for the sale of the company are far advanced, Ken Tomlinson, the receiver/manager, said a due-diligence exercise on the company is slated to be concluded by month-end.
"I expect that the company will be sold by sometime in January, and that operations at the plant will subsequently resume during the first half of next year," Mr. Tomlinson told The Gleaner on Friday.
"We have shortlisted those interested in buying the company," he added.
