Bakery case set for judgment

Magistrate Ngube, chairman of the Kanifing Industrial Tribunal, has set 17 January 2012 for judgment in the Yaharr Bakery case.

Amie Njie, who is trading as Yaharr Bakery, and who is also the defendant, failed to appear before the tribunal on three occasions to defend herself against a claim made by the plaintiffs, Yusupha Baldeh along with eighteen others.

The plaintiffs are claiming for the recovery of D84,791.65 due to them for unlawful termination.

They also claimed 25 percent interest and costs.

Ebrima Garba Cham, Secretary General of the Gambia Workers’ Union, represented the plaintiffs.

The particulars of claim of the plaintiffs stated that the plaintiffs were at all material times bakers for Yaharr Bakery.

They claimed that, as on 15 February 2011, the plaintiffs’ employment was terminated by the defendant without notice.

The plaintiffs further claimed that the bakery was closed because the management intended to sell or lease the bakery, and had promised to pay the plaintiffs whenever they have a customer, adding that the matter was reported to Labour Department which convened a tripartite meeting, but the management never showed up.

They went on to claim that they called the management over the phone for another meeting, but to no avail.

The claim of the plaintiffs stated that in 2009 the bakery was leased to another person, further disclosing that they approached the defendant to pay their benefits.

The plaintiffs claimed that the defendant had told them that they were greedy people, and asked them to forgive.

The claim indicated that the plaintiffs responded in the negative, and the defendant refused to pay their benefits such as annual leave arrears and notice.

They claimed further that there was no valid reason why the defendant was reluctant to pay their benefits, adding that because the bakery was leased, there was money to pay them.

The plaintiffs said in their claim that they have suffered loss of income.