Energy Chamber: Business did not conspire with Govt

The Energy Chamber has categorically rejected an accusation by the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM), that the business community has been conspiring with government to retrench workers.

In a media release yesterday, the Chamber cited a JTUM statement issued last Friday in which the umbrella labour organisation revealed that it had left the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC) because “both the government and employers had joined together in the retrenchment of workers even while the Labour Movement was a part of the tripartite body.”

However, the Energy Chamber stated that while some “individual companies” had been forced to retrench workers “given the extremely challenging economic environment” pointed out that several other companies had “actually increased their labour force over the past two years.” “Private-sector companies compete with each other and each company makes individual decisions on staffing levels based on their particular circumstances,” the Chamber stated.

“The Energy Chamber, working through the Joint Chambers group, has made it clear that we support the reform of the Retrenchment and Severance Benefit Act and we have made detailed proposals in this regard. The Energy Chamber remains committed to NTAC,” the Chamber continued.

Meanwhile, JTUM once again reiterated its demand for a moratorium on retrenchment from the government as one of the main conditions for its return to NTAC saying it was of the belief that government’s retrenchment of workers would have be intensified in the coming months.