Representatives of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) are to meet today with Chief Labour Officer Yoganand Persaud to address the year-long impasse with the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI), following a meeting yesterday between PNCR Leader Robert Corbin and Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir.
Corbin and PNCR General Secretary Oscar Clarke met with Nadir after the minister acceded to a request by the Opposition Leader.
Contacted yesterday, Nadir said that the meeting between he and Corbin was “cordial”. He said “the minister and the ministry have had meetings with the new leadership of the union and also with the company.” He said that “the government will engage to ensure that our workers are given and do get what is rightfully theirs.”
When Stabroek News contacted Persaud he would only say that he was scheduled to have an engagement with the union today.
Yesterday morning, dismissed workers of the GB&GWU, union leaders and PNCR members and supporters picketed the Ministry of Labour, on the first anniversary of the sacking of 57 workers of the Rusal subsidiary, (BCGI). The picketers numbered about 35. The group was also protesting against the dismissal of five employees from the company two Fridays ago following a fallout over the insanitary conditions of the Aroaima kitchen and the quality of meals being prepared there for employees.
The dismissed workers called for justice saying that they had been unfairly dismissed by RUSAL and that they needed their rights to be protected. Some of the employees pointed to the poor record RUSAL had concerning industrial relations in other countries and urged the government to intervene to ensure that this does not continue in Guyana.
Corbin said that his party has become involved because it feels that the year-long dispute is not an industrial matter but a political issue. “This is a political issue as far as the PNC is concerned because this is no longer an industrial matter, it is clear that there is political direction because you are seeing clear disparity in the way in which the government has been treating with different unions, “ Corbin said. “A bauxite strike exists for a year [while] a Barama dismissal is settled in a few days in which the government and (President Bharrat) Jagdeo promises to give them money,” he said, adding that “a sugar workers’ strike exists but they [the government] intervene but a workers’ strike from the bauxite industry and it’s one year and you can’t hear what is being done. “
He said that his party was not seeking to superimpose itself on the matter but said that it was concerned with seeing the rule of law implemented. He said that from his meeting with the minister, it is clear that all of the letters and meetings with the two parties were aimed at procrastination since none of them led to any serious resolution.
General Secretary of the GB&GWU Lincoln Lewis echoed the sentiments of Corbin and insisted that this was now a political issue. He stressed that the company has violated the law and nothing was being done about it although a year has since passed. Lewis opined that the Chief Labour Officer is not competent to deal with the matter considering the political implications of what is happening. The union, Lewis said, is not about to give up the struggle and will continue to fight.
