Trade unionist and executive member of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) Lincoln Lewis has said that his organisation may be moving to the courts to fight for the right of Guyanese workers to find employment at the Marriott construction site, where labour at the moment is provided exclusively by Chinese nationals.
Chinese firm Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) is the company carrying out the construction work which commenced during the latter half of last year. The cost of the construction is US$51 million.
Speaking with this newspaper yesterday, Lewis said, “We are mulling the option of going to court and addressing the matter from there. The state cannot give contracts that violate the constitution.”
“Article 22 of the constitution speaks to this issue – the right to work. The state has a responsibility to uphold the constitution,” he said. “When a state agency takes the decision to say jobs must go to citizens of another country, they are denying the citizens of Guyana their right to participate in that employment,” he said.
He said the GTUC has written to Prime Minister Sam Hinds on the issue as well as to the opposition and government benches of the National Assembly.
Lewis commented that these jobs were never advertised in Guyana and thus no one had an opportunity to offer themselves for employment. “We want Guyanese to be given the right to compete for any job. This [hotel] is being built with state funds,” he said.
Further, Lewis stressed that the Ministry of Labour must ensure that not only should the requisite laws and regulations be observed by the foreign workers but that the conditions of work should be satisfactory. He expressed doubt about persons from the Ministry of Labour visiting to assess the living conditions of the workers.
“The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention which speaks to decent work asks for certain requirements to be met, such as living conditions, sanitation and hours of work,” he said.
Lewis went on to say that given what he has seen happening throughout the Caribbean where Chinese companies carry out projects with Chinese workers, he observed that their work ethic is different and that they do not conform to national laws. He said that they also have an aversion to trade unionism.
Speaking with Stabroek News on Friday, Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Khurshid Sattaur said he does not consider SCG a high risk entity and hence he does not have inspectors breathing down its neck every day. But as to whether it has paid the taxes for its workers, he said this is confidential taxpayer information.
Sattaur said that all workers whether local or foreign are subject to taxes, and non-payment of taxes could affect a foreign worker’s eligibility for a work permit.
Minister of Labour Dr Nanda K Gopaul could not be reached for comment yesterday. Gopaul, in an earlier comment to this newspaper, said it is the intention to have Guyanese workers work along with the Chinese in the latter stages of the construction. He had also said that Guyanese workers were benefiting from the construction of the hotel through sub-contracts.
The situation has sparked outrage among sections of the society, and various organisations, including the GTUC, have staged protests outside the construction site.
A sum of $2 billion had been advanced to SCG by Atlantic Hotels Inc to commence the construction. However the final financing has not yet been secured and government is unwilling to say who the other investors are citing confidentiality issues.
CEO of Atlantic Hotels Inc Winston Brassington had stated two weeks ago that the reason for the use of Chinese labour was to save money on the project and to save time on the construction, making the point that the Chinese workers were more efficient. He said too that there would be no language barrier using Chinese labour. The GTUC had called Brassington’s explanations shameless and an outrage.
