An Accra High Court has placed an injunction on the dismissal of about 2300 workers of Goldfields. 

The workers were to be dismissed due to the company’s decision to shift from Owner Mining Module to Contract Mining Regime at its Tarkwa mine, but the Ghana Mineworkers Union (GMWU) sued Goldfields at the Labour Division of the Accra High Court.

Speaking to JoyBusiness after the second court appearance, Lawyer Charles Bawaduah - one of the representatives of GMWU, said the action against the company was a timely intervention.

He said, “But for the intervention, I can tell you that by the 13th, workers of Goldfields would have been declared redundant and the court intervention was important and it’s good that we took that action.”

He added, “They are still working because of the motion that we filed for an interlocutory injunction; they will continue to work until the court has decided on that application.”

The case has been adjourned to 15th of February, 2018 due to no representation from the Attorney General’s office when the Second Court Appearance was called on January 10, 2018. 

Subsequent to that, the AG had filed an application against a short (5-day) notice served on her – a situation that is contrary to Section 10 of the State Proceedings Act, 1998 (Act 555).

Writ

Per the writ filed on behalf of the workers by their lawyer, Charles Bawaduah, the workers are praying the court to restrain Goldfields from going ahead with the intended redundancy exercise until all the stakeholders involved “have concluded or negotiated on whether the exercise can be averted, and if not, the category of workers to be affected and measures to minimise the impact on workers."

They are also seeking a declaration from the court that the redundancy exercise is “unlawful” because the reasons given by the mining giant to lay them off do not meet the “requirements, conditions or grounds for redundancy, as provided by Section 65 of the Labour Act, 2013, Act 651.

The workers further want the court to declare that the purported authorisation of the redundancy exercise by the Chief Labour Officer is “illegal, unlawful and null and void’’.