November 22, 2008

Workers file lawsuit against Sidor for non payment of profits

BNamericas reported that employees at Venezuelan steelmaker Sidor have filed a suit against the company to demand payment of their share of profits from 2002 to 2007.

According to Mr Pedro Rondón a Sidor board member and representative of class B shareholders, the employees presented the commercial court with the suit and there are other employees that have been seeking payment for unfulfilled commitments since 1998.

Mr Rondón said that the legal complaint is based on the labor law which states that employees gain a share of company profits. The decision to take legal action was made after the government did not respond to employee requests. Mr Rondón said that "By doing so, we hope to regulate the company from a legal perspective."

The report said, through the other suit that the employees plan to file regarding unpaid benefits, they will demand that accumulated debts to workers be paid by the Ternium group and that the amount be discounted from the compensation the Venezuelan state agrees to pay for nationalizing the company.

According to local press reports, the Venezuelan government and Ternium are finalizing compensation negotiations since Mr Hugo Chávez president of Venezuela decided to nationalize the Sidor plant in April. The amount could come to USD 2 billion.