Cinta Comm., SAWU Pres. clash
L-R: Mr. Anthony Moses and Commissioner William B.S. Julye Two officials of Cinta Township in Margibi County have clashed over plan by the management of Salala Rubber Corporation or SRC in the county to rehire about 250 redundant staffs.
Cinta Township Commissioner William Borbor Sackie Julye, and the President of the Salala Agricultural Workers’ Union or SAWU, Mr. Anthony Opa Moses, are tearing each other apart in a fight to take the glory over the rehiring of workers by the corporation.
Lately last year, the SRC redundant about 300 workers, attributing the decision to fall in the global price of rubber and financial crisis at the company.
The rehiring is now said to be ongoing, beginning with training of tappers.
SAWU President Mr. Anthony Moses, expressed delight that the workers are being retaken by the company through advocacy by the union, denouncing government’s involvement.
Making remark recently during induction ceremony of the Salala Rubber Corporation Staff Association or SARCOSA at the SRC Factory, he said, “SRC was hardly hit by this global recession, but because of the collective work that we have had as staff association and the union, today we have scored, for our workers coming back to work and the evident is proven by the taping school that is ongoing today. If I will put it in a nutshell, that had been with no government’s intervention; I’m clear to say this and I’m glad to say this. It is a collective effort of us the workers and the staff association with our investors because we have been knocking on their doors.”
But Commissioner Julye disagreed, contending that Mr. Moses shouldn’t ignore government’s contribution in bringing the workers back to work at SRC.
“Leadership and management, that two different things. Management has limit, leadership has some control over management. Like for SRC Management, they manage just a company; for leaders, they lead people of all sectors, so for the workers’ union president to say that they did something in the absence or without the involvement of government, I said no because if you look at the definition of government, it is the people and it is the people that have given management this piece of work by giving them 8000 hectares of land or 22000 acres of land that they are operating on today, so nothing they do in the absence of their host”, he further argued.
He lamented that Mr. Moses’ statement 100 percent discredited the effort of government.
Commissioner Julye explained that there was no negotiation as claimed by Mr. Moses, but it is incumbent upon the company by law, and as per the collective bargaining agreement or CBA between SRC and the government, to retake redundant workers. Editing by Jonathan Browne
