Dear Editor,
Reference is made to the full-page advertisement published in the dailies by the Minister of Labour with regards to the bauxite impasse. Included in the advertisement cost are the tax dollars of bauxite workers whose rights under the law the government continues to deny. It is difficult to understand why the Minister would not want to speak the truth. Neither the Minister nor the Chief Labour Officer engaged the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union since the impasse escalated. In fact the union’s right to be heard has been continuously denied by both the Minister and the Chief Labour Officer and the only time we heard from these officers was through the public media.

The last meeting on December 2, 2009, at the Ministry of Labour under the chairmanship of the Chief Labour Officer was aborted when the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI) presented the ministry and union with a letter dated December 1 saying it has “with immediate effect terminated the Collective Labour Agreement” and was moving to have the union “de-recognised.” The Minister never addressed the company’s action but has attacked the union for accepting the company’s offer.

Moreso the Ministry of Labour has refused to further acknowledge any correspondence from the union, including those letters which relate to the impasse. This means that while the ministry is involved in public posturing, saying it recognises the union, it has in effect ‘derecognised’ the union because the union has been denied a response  from Minister Nadir or CLO Persaud to any of its letters seeking engagement on any issue, regardless of its nature.

The Minister said that  on “December 1 last year, the bauxite company communicated to his ministry that it no longer recognized the Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) as valid since on several occasions the union had taken actions outside the agreement, thus repudiating it.” The Minister is aware that the act of the company (of which the Guyana government is a part owner) is illegal. No one can unilaterally terminate a Collective Labour Agreement. The fact that the company said it was doing so and the minister has done nothing to enforce the law confirms the collusion of breaking the law.

The minister needs to show this nation under which legal authority BCGI could unilaterally terminate the Collective Labour Agreement it has entered into with the GB&GWU.

It is hard to understand why the minister would publicly seek to tell these tales with no regard for principles, procedures and laws, and is being allowed to get away with them.  May I reiterate that December 2 was the last date the union had any engagement with the ministry on this impasse.

Yours faithfully,
Leslie Gonsalves
General Secretary (ag)
GB&GWU