Former Keino Palace Employees Demand Settlement Moneys

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Business News

Wednesday, 05 September 2012 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua st. john's - Three months after employees of the Antigua Amusements Ltd (Keino Palace), Christina Antonio, Louvaine Prince and Sharon Finlayson won a collective $44,159.70 victory against the company; payment is still to be had.

The three employees, through their bargaining agent the Antigua and Barbuda Free Trade Union (ABFTU), had secured a settlement payment in the courts that saw each individual being awarded considerably for what has been determined a “wrongful dismissal.”

According to General Secretary of the ABFTU Stafford Jospeh, the employees in question were dismissed subsequent to an incident in the work place on April 19, 2007, where they were asked to leave the premises after confronting a man for behaving rudely towards another employee in the middle of a packed casino.

The intervening three were then reportedly asked to leave the premises by the individual who was later identified as Mr. Jack Johnson; someone with managing interest in the company. The employees had never met the man personally before the encounter although he had been present in the casino from time to time.

On April 20, 2012 the three were invited to a meeting with owner of the establishment Mr. Anthony Valardi who informed that they were suspended immediately and without pay for one month.

“The workers were never introduced to the individual who sent them home. Then they were suspended without pay for a month, which is illegal,” Joseph said.

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One day before the suspension was to be over, the employees were informed of their dismissal reportedly resulting from an investigation that did not involve them.

“Never given the honor of a fair hearing over the matter, the employers were accusing the workers of fraud on one hand and insubordination on the other.

 “We need the people’s money. I even indicated to the employer that we could sit and do a payment plan. The payment is stalled and the employees have no money to fight the matter further,” Jospeh said.

In the meantime, the ABFTU General Secretary has announced plans to picket the establishment as part of efforts to bring attention to the injustice done to the workers.

He said that efforts to secure the said payment from the company have so far all been fruitless as the company's manager Mr. Egbert Joseph continues to insist that it was Mr. Anthony Valardi who is responsible for payment being delayed.

Efforts to reach both parties were unsuccessful.

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