Bauxite workers affected by ongoing disputes between the BCGI and the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) hope that the favourable ruling on the issue of union recognition would pave the way for the quick resolution of all outstanding issues between the two parties.
“We can make some progress now,” Wayne Coppin said. Coppin, who was one of the 57 employees dismissed in November 2009, said he felt “great” hearing that the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board (TUR&CB) ruled that the GB&GWU was the recognised bargaining unit for the workers. “It gives us hope that things are going in our behalf. We felt we were on our own,” he said.
The TUR&CB last month rejected an application by some employees of the RUSAL subsidiary Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) to have the GB&GWU derecognised as the workers’ bargaining unit. The ruling was made more than a year after a group of employees approached