Dear Editor,

The letter by A. Harris captioned ‘Workers still waiting for bonus from Oldendorff,’ SN, September 1, needs to be addressed based on the context within which it is written. The workers of Oldendorff since the inception of this company’s operations in Guyana, have been paid a bonus every year. The bonus in question is that which is outstanding for 2009. The Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union (GB&GWU) raised this matter with Oldendorff and the company seems to want to find excuses for not making the payment.

The last position that this company has taken is that it is not prepared to negotiate with the union on this issue since it was never part of the Collective Labour Agreement. The union advised the company that it matters not if the bonus was put in place prior to the union being the bargaining agent for workers, the fact that the bonus is there means it forms part of the workers’ condition of employment and the union has a right to raise it and the company has a responsibility to honour it.

The attitude of this company when it comes to paying workers has to be met with strident action and the union will not waver on this issue.

Yours faithfully,
Leslie Gonsalves
President
GB&GWU