The Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC) has condemned the “brazen and blatant assault on the collective bargaining process” by the management of the Guyana Power and Light whose stated intension is to discard aspects of an arbitral award on the assumption that it might be lacking sound legal basis.
In a press release issued on Friday, the GTUC stated that the collective bargaining process should be viewed within the context that the state institution considers it alright in replicating the negligible administration of a government whose impudence against the International Labour Organization, conventions, treaties, the Caricom Charter of Civil Society and time honoured principles are clearly shown.
The GTUC is therefore demanding compliance with the Francis Carryl Arbitration Award since voluntary arbitration is an important tool in the collective bargaining process, being that it not only assist in resolving disputes but preserves industrial peace and harmony. The release said the GTUC respectfully calls on all union, associated with it or not, to stand in solidarity with the National Association of Agriculture and Commercial Employees (NAACIE) in this struggle that will determine the future of the labour movement.
Guysuco
The GTUC said it was also concerned over reports, from usually reliable sources that suggest that the challenges and deterioration of the Guyana Sugar Corporation ranged from poor weather to the sporadic strike of its workers and the failure to realize a successful start up of the Skeldon modernized plant and abnormal difficulties being experienced at the Demerara factories.
The release said the union was calling for the urgent establishment of a commission of inquiry to conduct a detailed forensic study of the state of the industry.
