By William Madouk
First court hearing between UAP Insurance Company and its dismissed national staff has been rescheduled to September 26, 2024.
Juba High Court, Judge Francis Amum adjourned the session after UAP defense lawyers requested additional time to prepare their response to the labour case involving the former employees.
Following the adjournment, Marko Reech, the plaintiff’s lawyer addressed the media, expressing concerns regarding the delay.
“We went ahead with the case [to the court] but the defendant’s lawyer for UAP company said they were not ready with their reply and they requested the court to give them more days,” said Reech.
“So, the High Court gave them a chance to prepare and come back on September 26,” he added.
In October last year, UAP Insurance firm dismissed at least ten national staff for calling for improved pay. This was contrary to the Ministry of Labor’s order calling for the reinstatement of 10 fired staff.
This, however, forced the UAP National Staff Association (UNSA) to initiate a legal case against the insurance firm.
UAP and its national employees have been in dispute over unequal treatment and differing wages for nationals compared to their foreign expatriate counterparts.
That forced about 70 national staff to stage a sit-in strike, bringing the UAP business to a standstill.
Luka Nyarsuk Nason, Chairman of the Labor Advisory Council, in a letter dated September 29, 2023, asked the UAP management to also put on hold all administrative measures taken against staff.
In October, the Ministry of Labor delivered a long-awaited verdict against the pitting brawl between the UAP insurance management and national staff over unfair treatment and salary structure.
Mary Hillary Wani, the undersecretary in the Ministry of Labor on the resolution of the dispute over UAP national staff grievances, directed the UAP firm to instantly reinstate 10 national employees who were axed.
According to the labour ministry, positions for UAP staff who are physically working in Kenya will be advertised and nationalized.
However, this outlet establishes that none of the Ministry of Labor’s verdicts had been implemented by the UAP company by the press time.