Labour Minister Dr Nanda Gopaul yesterday signaled that the wage dispute between the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) and the union representing striking workers may be headed towards arbitration.
As the strike by workers represented by the National Association of Agricultural, Com-mercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) entered a third consecutive day, Gopaul met with representatives of the company and the union in an attempt to break the impasse over wage increases.
As a result of the strike, the generation and supply of electricity had been interrupted at Bartica as well as Wakenaam and Leguan. Bartica has been placed on a supply schedule until the industrial action ends, this newspaper learned yesterday.
After yesterday’s meeting, Gopaul told Stabroek News that both sides maintained their positions and have been given the weekend to consider the points made. He said that if the entities fail to submit favourable responses by next Monday, he may very well resort to invoking arbitration.
NAACIE General Secretary confirmed that both sides had been given until Monday to consider the matter, but said that if GPL persists in its refusal to honour its obligations, the strike will continue on Monday. He added that until he is satisfied that arbitration is imminent, the industrial action will be maintained.
Joseph, however, said that once such a process is initiated, employees will be returning to work, and that the union intends to honour whatever conclusion comes out of the process.
Efforts to reach GPL Chief Executive Officer Bharat Dindyal for comment were unsuccessful.
Minister Gopaul said that once he concludes that arbitration is necessary, the Terms of Reference (TOR) will be set, and a tribunal will be named.
Meanwhile, officials from the Region Seven Democratic Council said that Bartica has been placed on an electricity-supply schedule until the industrial action ends.
Dindyal had said on Thursday that while employees had worked through Wednesday night to maintain power at Bartica, they needed rest and were unable to continue operations, which affected the power supply to the area. Yesterday, officials from Bartica said that until the strike is over, there will be no electricity supply from 8am to 6pm daily, but power would be supplied as per normal all night.
Dindyal had also said that both Wakenaam and Leguan were without electricity by Wednesday night and that the company was up to Thursday afternoon looking for persons to man those stations.
The Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber yesterday stated that he had received calls from Leguan about the lack of power to the island, but was unaware about any such situation in Wakenaam, since no one had made a report about it. The Chairman said that as for as he was aware, the situation in Leguan, as reported by Dindyal on Thursday, remained the same up to yesterday.
Solidarity
NAACIE, which gas gotten support for its actions from the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), yesterday received expressions of solidarity from both the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and the General Workers’ Union (GWU).
FITUG, in a statement, publicly announced its solidarity and support for its affiliate, NAACIE, and its members. FITUG said that it “is convinced that this issue concerns a fundamental trade union principle; the honouring of a Collective Labor Agreement (CLA) entered into by an employer with a recognised bargaining agent.”
FITUG noted that with respect to the specific issue of the wage increase, it is now aware of the company’s tactic to impose the so called “all-inclusive packages” touted to be “increases,” and it pointed out that the technique ignores the conditions applicable in the existing CLA and lessens the justifiable, even minimum demand of the Union.
Citing yesterday’s meeting between GPL, NAACIE and Gopaul, the union said that the Minister “must surely broker a solution acceptable to both workers and the company.”
On the matter of GPL’s claim that its financial conundrum renders it incapable of paying what is being demanded by NAACIE, FITUG said that it “is not without sympathy for the company’s financial challenges,” but added that the employees are not to be blamed for GPL’s woes and that Guyanese consumers must not be made to suffer from the basic service the company offers.”
Also throwing in its lot with NAACIE was the GWU, which yesterday said that considering the circumstances which led to this weeks’ industrial action, it had “absolutely no hesitation” in unreservedly supporting the action of the union and its members.
In a release, GWU called upon GPL to “respect the letter and spirit” of the agreement entered into between itself and NAACIE, while lamenting the company’s blatant disregard for International Labour Organisation Convention No.98 and the principles and practices of good industrial relations.
GWU said that in the coming days it will be meeting with NAACIE’s executive body to offer support. The group also mentioned its intention to request an emergency Central Executive Council of the Guyana Trade Unions Congress (GTUC), of which it is an affiliate, to determine possible solidarity support activities.
On Thursday, Chairman of GPL’s Board of Directors Winston Brassington noted the company’s precarious financial situation, saying it had recorded $5 billion in losses in 2012, despite soliciting $6 billion in subsidies and $5.35 billion in loans from the government.
He said that high fuel costs continue to cut deep into its profits and constitute the largest percentage of its expenditure. Brassington said that last year alone, the company spent $24.1 billion in buying fuel, while only raking in $29.3 billion from sales, meaning that a monumental 83% of GPL’s financial resources were put towards purchasing fuel. This, he said, along with the $1.5 billion annually in remuneration currently being paid to NAACIE members, makes paying the 8% increase demanded by the union impossible.
Brassington stated that GPL has been quite reasonable with the union in its offer for 2012, as was the case for the last seven years, when increases of 6% to 10% were proposed and accepted. He added that the offer of a 5% increase is more than reasonable, considering the fact that it is more than the company can afford to provide. A government subsidy will have to be solicited in order to pay the 5% which they have offered, he noted.
The employees on strike, however, were unmoved by these claims, saying that with the increased cost of living, including the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT), what they currently receive is unacceptable.
