By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
IT WAS a hitch-free process for the majority of the 450 employees who gathered at Hampden Estate, Trelawny, yesterday, for their payments in lieu of notice, as Hampden closed its doors to the public for a rehabilitation and restructuring exercise.
But, there was grumbling among some contract workers attached to the estate, disappointed that they came up empty-handed when they went to collect their notice pay.
The SCJ, which operates Hampden, did not explain why contract workers were not included among those paid notice pay yesterday. The company said that it distributed some $22 million to clerical, distillery and field workers. Another $69 million in redundancy payments will be issued to the workers by the end of December.
Livingstone Morrison, chief executive officer of the SCJ, said that some 150 employees would be rehired on a phased-basis as of mid-September, when Hampden re-opens for business. The estate will no longer be operated on a traditional basis when it reopens, but as a multi-crop technology-driven entity, the SCJ says.
"At the moment, we have already formulated the new positions and the selection process will be done shortly," noted Mr. Morrison. "All new workers, whether they were previously employed on the estates or not, will have to undergo intensive training to ensure that they are multi-skilled."
The $300 million redevelopment plan for Hampden is to include: the refurbishing and modernising of the distillery; the planting of 1,300 hectares of sugar cane; the cultivation of 200 hectares of crops other than sugar cane; and the construction of a bottling plant.
The current round of redundancies follows a similar exercise at the company last year, when 200 factory workers were laid off.
The University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) says it is concerned about the non-payment of notice pay to the contract workers and says it will be taking up the matter with the SCJ.
"Under the industrial laws of the country, if a contract worker has done over two years of service, he/she is entitled to money in lieu of notice as well as redundancy payments, so we will be discussing this matter with the company," Aston Johnson, union organiser said in an interview with The Gleaner, yesterday.
