The Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC) yesterday expressed disgust over what it called the ever increasing occurrence of industrial fatalities under Rusal management, while imploring the company along with the government to “at least give [Franklyn Reece] a decent funeral”.
Speaking at a press conference, GTUC President Norris Witter said that “while [Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir] has been indulging himself in all kinds of anti-union activities, the industrial accident and fatality rates, since he assumed office, have increased exponentially. And while the rates of industrial accidents and deaths have been increasing, all we have been having or hearing from this minister is wild and reckless posturing.”
General Secretary, Lincoln Lewis, said Reece’s death follows a number of similar incidences that have beenoccurring since Rusal and the government took over the Berbice bauxite mining operation.
Lewis mentioned several workers who perished under the company’s watch, including Remington Wade, who was involved in a vehicular crash while heading to work. He also said that some persons have been permanently maimed from these occurrences, accusing Rusal of not doing much to compensate the families of these victims.
To emphasize his point, he also mentioned occurrences in 2009 and this year, when several workers were terminated as a result of protesting for improved working conditions and increased wages. These workers and their families, he said, are still struggling to make ends meet.
In his final appeal to those he and the union feel are responsible for Reece’s death, Lewis urged, “Don’t play games or politics by running to Aroaima to say that you are carrying out an investigation when in fact, in the case of Remington Wade, you did nothing… the government did nothing.”
At around 10 on Sunday morning, Reece and a colleague Anthony Johnson were in a mining pit where the company was blasting when a wall caved in smothering the two. Johnson was quickly rescued but Reece was buried under a lot of debris and it took some time for rescuers to get to him. He was rushed to the Kwakwani Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Johnson suffered injuries to the back and could not be brought out by road to the Linden Hospital Complex. He was subsequently airlifted to Georgetown, where he was admitted and is still a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Lewis also stated, “for this company to bring Johnson to Georgetown out of Kwak-wani, they were prepared to put a man, who had received serious back injuries, into a pickup and get him to Linden and then Georgetown. It was the vehement protest by family and friends that caused the company to contract the service to have him flown out of Kwakwani out for medical attention.”
In a press statement on Sunday, the Bauxite Com-pany of Guyana Inc (BCGI) said, “The Reece family will be offered compensation and other assistance from the BCGI. The company also will stand all medical expenses for our colleague Anthony Johnson.”
