PPC Aggregates, BMWU dispute goes to trial

The Francistown High Court recently ruled in favour of 45 PPC Aggregates Botswana workers, whose retrenchment packages were ‘wrongfully’ calculated by their then employer Quarries of Botswana. The employees maintained that when calculating packages Quarries of Botswana disregarded the existence of a binding ‘Retrenchment and Redeployment Agreement’ it entered and concluded with their representative, BMWU, on November 11, 2004. The matter had been before the courts since 2012 and had gone through different stages of litigation.

PPC later acquired Quarries of Botswana but maintained that it was not liable for paying the retrenchment packages. However, last week, the High Court noted that although PPC was not party to the retrenchment agreement, by purchasing Quarries of Botswana, the firm stepped into the shoes of the latter.