Union slams HCL lay-offs

Home Construction Limited (HCL),  proprietor of the Tru Valu chain of supermarkets, has come under severe condemnation from president of the  Banking Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU) Vincent Cabrera for its move to retrench 400 employees.

The workers, whose last day is tomorrow, are to be retrenched from the chain’s branches at Diego Martin, Long Circular Mall, Trincity and Valpark. The ownership of these branches is to be transferred to a new company, Eastern Commercial Lands Limited, which is also owned by HCL. A release from HCL revealed that these four branches would continue to operate under the Tru Valu banner and would serve as “major anchors” in HCL’s mall network. “We view this acquisition as strategic to our vision,” the release stated, “which will assure that the group becomes a major player in the supermarket industry.” Workers at the four branches in South — Gasparillo, Atlantic Plaza, Point Lisas, Fyzabad and Montrose, Chaguanas — will not be immediately affected. HCL will retain control of these branches.

Cabrera accused HCL of setting up Eastern Commercial Lands as a “paper company” for the purpose of trying to bypass employer obligations to the workers and he also alleged that the chain was trying to escape its duties under the collective agreement negotiated by BIGWU by rehiring some of the retrenched workers under new, individual contracts. At a meeting on Saturday, workers were told that they would all be rehired at higher salaries. However, Cabrera noted that they would not have a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), membership in a pension plan, health plan or profit sharing.  HCL, he asserted, was in violation of Section 5 of the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act. He also condemned HCL for appointing property managers as manager of Tru Valu, noting that they knew nothing of the grocery business.