Former Bermuda Glass employees are still out of pocket by $35,000 or more, after they were made redundant without notice last June.

The four staff members, who say they are collectively owed thousands in redundancy and pay in lieu of notice under the Employment Act 2000, now wish to take their case to Government?s Labour Tribunal.

The dispute erupted on June 2 when the workers were told they were no longer needed ? a decision that took effect immediately and without any offer of pay in lieu of notice.

The news was delivered to the shocked staff by Baptiste Builder owner Raymond Baptiste and lawyer Kim White. Since then, attempts by the former employees to get the monies they are owed have come to nought.

Spokesman for the out-of-pocket workers Malcolm Dixon yesterday told that a formal complaint was sent to Labour Minister Randy Horton in early November. The next day, 5 November, he received word from the Ministry of Labour that the matter was being reviewed by labour relations officer and acting Director of Labour Glenn Fubler. That letter cited sections 31 and 42 of the Act, saying that the ?obligations and orders under the Act are binding? on the successor company.

Yesterday Mr. Dixon said the employees had still not received word on where the matter stands and are also distressed that Bermuda Glass creditor, the Bank of Bermuda, has already been paid. Under the Employment Act, laid-off staff are to be paid before any other creditors, including the Crown.

Yesterday, the bank?s receiver, Craig Christensen said his client had been paid and his services as receiver were now ?discharged?.

Mr. Dixon said he was ?appalled? that the staff had been left unpaid and was disheartened that the terms of the Act had not been made to stick.

?It appears that the legal system can work around the Act, and employees are not protected. If there is no importance put in the Act, it then becomes useless. It is very disheartening?

Mr. Dixon was executive director of the Bermuda Employers Council when the Employment Act became law, and was part of active discussions with then Labour Minister Paula Cox on the legislation. He said the purpose of the Act was to strike a fair balance and minimum protection for employees who were previously without certain rights.

?I teach a management course at the Bermuda College and I tell students that this is how the law works, but what I am telling them is rubbish if it is not enforced,? he said.

Mr. Dixon said part of the problem the former Bermuda Glass employees faced was determining who actually owed them the monies.

When the redundancies were made last June, eight other staff employed by Bermuda Glass were hired by Baptiste Builders, which was reportedly the purchaser of the business.

But a Press release issued by law firm Cox Hallett Wilkinson last June announced that Bermuda Glass had been put into receivership and cited ?underlying historical problems? which were ?incapable of solution? without a large amount of money.

There were no details given on what those ?underlying historical problems? were. Although Baptiste Builders said Bermuda Glass had moved to its Khyber Pass location, it denied having bought the company.understands that Bermuda Glass is now owned by Maui Island Trust, the principals of which have not been named but are understood to be associated with Baptiste Builders.

?No matter which way you turn, they are on the losing end,? Mr. Dixon said of the former staff.

He said the group, who cannot afford to hire a lawyer, were anxious to take the next step of having the matter heard by a labour tribunal, which was set up to enforce the Employment Act.

?These staff were unfairly dismissed and have claims according to the law. If that law is not protecting the very people it was meant to protect, it becomes a paper tiger,? he said.