By William Madouk
Ministry of Labour has delivered a verdict on a brawl between the UAP insurance management and national staff over unfair treatment as well as underpayment.
Undersecretary at the Labor Ministry, Mary Hillary Wani held a session with the two parties on October 4, 2023, to find an amicable solution.
In a letter dated October 6, on the resolution of the dispute on UAP national staff grievances, Ms. Wani directed the company to instantly reinstate 10 national staff, fired over the strife.
“The terminated members of the staff association, both executive and members, are to be reinstated without fail (section 73, sub. (2)(a),” Ms. Wani directed.
She also directed that all national staff of UAP report back to work with immediate effect.
The Labor docket instructed UAP management to review the salary structure and to give the human resources office, being held in Kenya to a South Sudanese national.
“The national human resource official is to be trained and given full responsibility for human resource work,” Ms. Wani noted.
According to the labor ministry, positions of UAP staff who are physically working from Kenya are to be advertised and nationalized.
“The UAP management is hereby requested to comply with and adhere to the resolution stipulated above,” she stressed.
Reacting to the verdict, Simon Mabor, spokesperson for the UAP National Staff Association, said they are satisfied with the Ministry of Labor’s ruling.
“The leadership of the UAP National Staff Association (UNSA) is thus excited and apprised of the resolution herein as guidelines towards the practical yet full implementation of the objectives of the UNSA sit-in strike,” said Mabior.
“It’s worth appreciating the commendable yet collective contribution of most of the UAP national staff besides those who conspired to the course (workers trade union, CES, specialized committee on labor, and activists),” he added.
Mr. Mabor urged the UAP administration to uphold teamwork as the company fulfills all the resolutions made by the Ministry of Labor.
Genesis of the Row
On September 18, about 70 national staff working with the UAP insurance company staged a sit-in strike over unfair treatment and the same job with different wages for national compared to their expatriate colleagues.
However, the Undersecretary in the Ministry of Labor advised the UAP staff to halt their sit-down strike and return to work to pave the way for dialogue for an amicable settlement.
Luka Nyarsuk Nason, Chairman of the Labor Advisory Council, in a letter dated September 29, asked the UAP management to also put on hold all administrative measures taken against staff.
But when the UAP staff decided to return to the office, only 52 were given access to the entrance and about 10 employees were dismissed from work by management, leaving staff fuming as they vowed to continue striking.