Following a successful takeover of African Banking Corporation Zambia Limited, trading as Atlas Mara Zambia by Access bank Zambia limited, the Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW) has emphasized on the need for Atlas Mara employees to be paid their separation packages or be given an option to choose whether to continue with the new employer or not.
Recently, Access Bank Zambia Limited announced the completion of the acquisition of African Banking Corporation Zambia Limited, trading as Atlas Mara Zambia after obtaining all requisite regulatory approvals which means that Atlas Mara is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Access Bank Zambia.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times -ZBT, ZUFIAW Union Secretary General Kasapo Sundrea Kabende said that the union is committed to ensuring that employees of Atlas Mara bank are not disadvantaged.
Kabende revealed that the union is already doing background consultations to ensure that the take over process is followed in line with the provisions of the labor laws.
“Our position remains that our members at Atlas Mara should be paid their separation packages and obviously be given an option to choose whether they would want to continue with the new employer or they would want to separate. We will ensure that our members are not disadvantaged. The law has to be protected during this process of legal take over and we are already doing consultations in the background with our social partners to ensure that the process is followed to the latter in line with the provisions of the labor laws of this country,” he said.
“As a union we are alive to the fact that we have labor laws in our country that govern how an employee should be treated once the company has been taken over. We have members at Atlas Mara and we are well positioned to make sure that our members are treated in accordance with what the law provides,” said Kabende.
