Members of the Guyana Trade Unions Congress (GTUC) yesterday picketed the Camp Street office of the General Secretary of the Guyana Labour Union (GLU) Carvil Duncan, accusing him of being a tool of the government and anti-labour.
The three-man protest was made up of GTUC General Secretary Lincoln Lewis, union President Norris Witter and political activist Tacuma Ogunseye, who carried placards accusing Duncan of being “Jagdeo’s poodle,” of betraying the working class and of being “among the oppressors.”
However, when contacted by this newspaper for a reaction, Duncan stated: “I have no comment on that, sir.”
Speaking to the reporters outside the GLU office, Lewis enumerated a number of allegations against Duncan and cited his representation of Barama workers. Lewis said, “A number of persons have lost piece of their limbs, limbs and people have lost lives and this man is the head of the union that ought to be representing workers there and he did nothing. The conditions, the safety and health conditions at that institution continue to deteriorate. It took public outcry after one man may have lost his life late last year before the company sought to address the problem that existed. What manner of man is this?”
Lewis also noted that Duncan was the trade union representative on the Trade Union Recognition & Certification Board (TURB), giving him a say in which unions are recognised or not. He cited Duncan over his actions in two cases, being that of the Federal Management Systems (FMS) and that of the Linden Electricity Inc (LEI). In the first case, Lewis said the General Workers Union had sought to represent the workers at FMS and even though it had the required amount of support among the workers, its application has been stymied.
In the second instance with LEI, Lewis noted that Duncan is the chairman of the board of the entity and on December 4 told the workers that the company was not recognising their union, the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU). “When a man can sit on the board, make the decision as to which union will get recognition and then he turn around and join with the company to work against that union, these are dangerous men,” he said.
According to the GTUC executive, Duncan was working against the entire trade union movement and not just independent unions. He stated that Duncan was the “industrial relations advisor for the Industrial Relations Committee in GPL,” which has been battling with the workers’ union, NAACIE.
Lewis said it was time to tackle Duncan and he was going to do so “head on. We’re going to up the ante. You see only three of us today [yesterday]. We’re gonna carry it to his home. This picketing exercise gonna be getting personal… he has to change… This has to stop,” he declared.
In a flyer being handed out at yesterday’s protest, it was stated that Duncan as a representative on the TURB attended the 2007 meeting that approved the recognition of the GB&GWU to represent workers at LEI. “Duncan, chairman of LEI instructed its management not to reply to the GB&GWU’s letters requesting meetings between management and the union,” the flyer alleged.
It also stated that Duncan works as “the government hatchet man to stymie efforts to resolve the scores of workers dismissed by BCGI [the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc].” Further, it said that Duncan, as chairman of FITUG and member of the GPL Board, advised the management how to crush the workers’ pursuit of improved working conditions and increased wages.
It also noted that the Clerical & Commercial Workers Union lodged a complaint with the GTUC against Duncan, who it said was part of the government delegation at the Office of the President “fighting against conditions demanded by the union on behalf of the National Communication Network (NCN) workers.”
According to the GTUC handout, during his tenure as GTUC’s representative on the GPL Board, Duncan voted with GPL management to increase electricity charges even though the union body had taken a decision against increases and advised him to vote accordingly.
The GTUC also claims that Duncan attended the government meeting, where a decision to do away with the Critchlow Labour College’s subvention was made.
