[2008]DLSC2463 • May 28, 2008 • Supreme Court •
SEBASTIAN DZAISU & 92 ORS vs. GHANA BRWERIES LTD.
The appellants, employed as casual workers by Ghana Breweries Ltd between 1993 and 2003, claimed they performed the same work as permanent employees but were denied benefits under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). They sought declarations that their employment terms were discriminatory and wrongful, and demanded payment of benefits, damages for wrongful termination, and other reliefs. The respondent denied the claims, asserting casual workers were not entitled to permanent status or CBA benefits. The appellants lost at the High Court and Court of Appeal and appealed to the Supreme Court.
read moreSOPHIA ADINYIRA (MRS.), J.S.C.: The Plaintiffs/Appellants (hereinafter called the appellants) were employed as casual workers by Ghana Breweries Ltd, the Defendant/Respondent (hereinafter called the Respondent), in various periods ranging between the years 1993 to April 2003. The appellants claimed they did the same work as the permanent workers and yet were denied all other benefits and allowances, which the Respondent made available to the regular or permanent workers under a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Some of these benefits were particularised in Paragraph 5 of the statement of claim to include: overtime, night allowance, annual leave, back pay and participation in credit and trade unions. According to the appellants they made several petitions to the respondent to upgrade and make them permanent employees without success. They also wrote to the Labour Office for help but to no avail, so they instituted this action before the High Court (Fast Track Division) Accra, claim...