The employees of the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) will now have representation from the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) after the parties inked a recognition agreement on Tuesday to allow the union to become the bargaining agent for the company’s 40-member staff.

The agreement, entitled the Recognition and the Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes, outlines the conduct of relationship between the union and the company.

According to a press release from GAWU, during last year, some employees of the Bridge sought to have representation from the union. While the application was granted by the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board on November 30, procrastination on the part of management of the bridge saw the agreement being delayed.
The next steps will be to ascertain the workers proposals and requests to be constituted into a Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) which will be submitted to the company to begin negotiations between the parties.

Minister Manzoor Nadir, in a statement, has congratulated the BBCI and the union on the signing of the agreement.

He urged that employers and unions meet to conclude multi-year agreements, which will allow for smooth functioning in production and enable cordial industrial relations in Guyana.

He commended the work of the Trade Union Recognition and Certifica-tion Board in ensuring the effective functioning of the national industrial processes.

In this regard, he highlighted the recent agreements signed between CCWU and Sterling Products Ltd and by TURCB and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority.

GAWU added that this new agreement marks the twelfth bargaining unit in the private and public sectors under the stewardship of the union which represents 22,000 of the unionised workforce in Guyana.