Dear Editor,
Rights and the rule of law are seen as the bedrock of every modern and civilized society. The continued transgressions of the rights of bauxite workers must be challenged by every citizen who embraces the principle that individual rights are sacred and must not be violated by any individual or institution. The 57 miners that were dismissed by the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI) 11 months ago is a clear case of collusion by the initiators and the Ministry of Labour to deny them their rights.
In August, in my presence, at a meeting in the ministry, the Chief Labour Officer (CLO) informed the Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union (GB&GWU) that they will be inviting the management of BCGI for a meeting. After one week the union observed the ministry’s prevarication and insisted that the ministry honour its commitment, after which the ministry claimed that it had invited BCGI for a meeting in September.
The union turned up to honour the meeting but BCGI failed to attend. The CLO telephoned BCGI and reported to the union that the General Manager said that he did not receive the ministry’s invitation to the meeting and was preparing to leave the country. Further, on the said date the CLO reported to the union that he spoke with BGCI’s Personnel Manager and they both agreed to a meeting on Thursday, October 7.
On October 7 both the GB&GWU and BCGI turned up for this meeting at the Ministry of Labour but the absent party was the CLO who had the responsibility to convene the meeting. The meeting never materialized because of his absence.
This issue has attracted national and international attention. The Minister of Labour, on June 16, gave the commitment to the Geneva-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers’ Union (ICEM) that the ministry will convene a meeting between the parties to bring about a resolution. The Minister had met with both parties individually and at the meeting with the union he re-affirmed his position that the union is the legal bargaining agent for workers at BCGI.
The event that took place on October 7 is indicative that the chief problem is the Ministry of Labour. It is clear today that some workers’ rights are not premised on the laws and the constitution but on their race and perceived political affiliation. It is also clear that the ministry is playing for time in the hope that workers will abandon the union and the struggle.
A team was sent by the Ministry of Labour and the Trade Union Recognition Board to verify and validate the company’s claim that workers wanted to leave the union. Both the ministry and recognition board have failed in their mission to validate the company’s claim, and after two months the report from the officers who visited Aroaima and Kwakwani cannot surface. The CLO who is also the Secretary of the Trade Union Recognition Board told the union subsequent to the officers’ visit that they did not do a good job and he has to go and get it done.
Last week when workers of the state-owned Linden Power Company walked off the job after the company refused to meet with the union since it received recognition in 2007 from the Trade Union Recognition Board, the Chief Labour Officer promptly wrote the union bringing to its attention the law he perceived that the workers violated.
If the CLO can find time to remind the union about its obligation under the law, he must find the time to discharge his obligation under the law too. The absence of the CLO on October 7 to convene the meeting between the two parties appears to be a deliberate act and must be seen as part of the entire scheme to deny African workers their rights under the law. The GB&GWU was advised that the meeting the CLO had with GAWU on October 7 occurred less than 72 hours prior to the scheduled meeting between the union and BCGI.
The time has come for workers – unionized and non-unionized – to speak out, for if they stand idly by and encourage discrimination against any one or any group they are contributing to the perpetuation of it at the expense of a class struggle.
If the parties do not meet within the next fortnight I, Lincoln Lewis, shall be in front of the Ministry of Labour with a picket in my hand. This targeted and sustained discrimination must come to an end.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis