Queried by The Business Times, Dyson reiterates on Wednesday that it is not disclosing the number of workers affected
THE United Workers of Electronics and Electrical Industries (UWEEI) has said that Dyson’s conduct of its latest retrenchment on Tuesday (Oct 1) is “not in accordance with the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment”.
In a nearly two-minute-long video posted on Facebook on Wednesday, the union’s executive secretary Patrick Tay said: “This is unacceptable, as it does not give sufficient time for discussion between Dyson and UWEEI to ensure not just a fair, but also a responsible and progressive retrenchment exercise.”
UWEEI had on Tuesday issued a statement, criticising Dyson for giving the labour union only a day’s notice of the layoff, despite being a unionised company.
A Dyson spokesperson, responding to the union, said the company was “following all prevailing guidelines from the Ministry of Manpower”.
UWEEI, which is affiliated with the National Trades Union Congress, is still trying to confirm the details of the retrenchment package. It has heard that the retrenchment payout is in line with the UWEEI norm of one month’s salary for each year of service. But it does not know whether there is a cap on this package.
Tay said: “We understand from some affected employees that they were told to keep it confidential or risk affecting their retrenchment package.”
The union also does not know how senior the affected workers are. But it notes that Section 30A of the Industrial Relations Act allows unions to represent executives individually – if not collectively – on retrenchment benefits.
UWEEI said on Tuesday that it has “escalated” the matter to the Ministry of Manpower.
Queried by The Business Times on Wednesday, the Dyson spokesperson reiterated that the company is not disclosing the number of workers affected, but also stressed that the 2022 forecast of US$1.5 billion in investment over four years remains unchanged.
