Juba High Court on Wednesday rejected a dismissal appeal filed by the UAP South Sudan Company lawyer in a labor dispute with sacked national staff.
Earlier this month, the UAP lawyer applied to the court to dismiss the hearing, claiming that the case had already been settled by the labor office and that the dismissed staff were paid off, a claim the plaintiff disputed.
The presiding judge, Francis Amum, ruled in favor of the dismissed staff and said that the hearing would continue.
However, the session could not proceed as the plaintiff’s lawyer did not present the employment dates of all the dismissed staff, forcing an adjournment to Thursday.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, lawyer Marko Reech Chan for the terminated staff, said they would on Thursday prepare all the documents required and present them before the court.
“They objected that the labor office had resolved this case and the court had no room to again look into it, but the court said that is not proven, and should be done during the hearing. The case is going to continue tomorrow,” he said.
The lawyer representing UAP declined to speak to the media.
In September last year, 57 national staff of the UAP Old Mutual Company staged a strike over what they termed as unfair work environment.
They accused the company of unequal payment compared to their foreign counterparts.
However, the company decided to sack the leaders of the national staff association, who later dragged it to court.
The Ministry of Labor later issued directives for UAP to rehire the dismissed national staff, and proposed salary increments.
However, the management of UAP Insurance South Sudan has not complied with the directives, prompting the former employees to resort to the court.