Weeks after she lost her reputed husband in a mining pit accident, a young mother faced added hardship when her mother-in-law forcefully removed her from the house she called home even as she fights to get some form of compensation from her husband’s employer.
This is just one of the many heart-rending complaints the Ministry of Social Protection receives on a daily basis but according to Minister within that ministry Simona Broomes, who has responsibility for labour, companies and businesses would have to tow the line when it comes to the labour laws.
“The conditions generally that Guyanese are working under have to change…,” the minister made clear during an interview with this newspaper.
The minister spoke of what she described as the “horrid” conditions under which Guyanese workers are forced to work and she issued a strong warning that the labour officers would be going after errant employers.
And it is not only the private sector that has to pull up their proverbial socks but also government ministries and agencies. Since taking the oath of office Minister Broomes has visited several companies and while some were found to be taking their workers’ well-being into consideration she found “atrocious conditions” at others.
One of the areas the minister plans to focus on is how employers treat with industrial accidents. She pointed out that according to the labour laws companies have four days to report an accident on their worksites and should there be a death it must be immediately reported to the ministry.
“Persons failing to carry out these actions would be sanctioned. All of the accidents that occurred from since this government took office I have sent officers out there to investigate,” the minister said giving the examples of the mining deaths.
The minister cautioned that owners of companies would be charged and placed before the court should they fail to report an accident.
“This ministry is not a toy, we are not paying people to sit around. Labour officers would be applying the law and making visits,” the minister warned.
“These are human beings out there, they have families and many family members are here at the ministry complaining.”
One of the companies she visited since taking up office was the Linden mines of Chinese bauxite company Bosai, where her team found poor working conditions. Among the issues found were poorly constructed tunnels which had live electricity even though there was water on the floor; basic face masks were being used instead of industrially approved safety masks with proper filters and respirators. The minister had also referred to a sparsely furnished lunchroom with no central or functioning air conditioning unit and one adjacent to an exposed sewage pipe.
Since that visit in early June, Broomes said, Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle wrote to the company pointing out the breaches that were observed and a timeline was given for these to be corrected.
“We talked about the lack of signs, the wiring, the areas where workers ate and other conditions. So all of those breaches were pointed out to the company based on the labour regulations which are clear,” the minister said.
The company responded to the letter and on July 9, the ministry’s labour officers conducted a follow-up visit and found that the breaches were corrected.
“I am pleased to report that Bosai has been making changes… The lunch area the floor was resurfaced among other things,” the minister revealed, adding that the complaints were being remedied and she is happy that the company has been making the necessary changes.
Broomes said the employees are happy with the changes that were effected but some of them were concerned that the company has since indicated that it would be scaling down on workers’ numbers.
She confirmed reports that the workers feel that this move is due to the visit and the issues raised and she has since asked her workers to have a discussion with the company since it has written to the ministry informing of plans to lay off some workers for various reasons.
‘Not an attack’
Meanwhile, Broomes made it clear that visits to Bosai or any other company that she may visit in the future as the exercise is ongoing, is not an attack but the amount of complaints from local companies are overwhelming.
“The guard services are horrible,” she said, adding that a high number of complaints are made daily.
Broomes said she intends to meet the heads of guard services since the complaints are too many. Many miners also complain about not being paid by companies and she gave the example of a foreign companies which was taken to court by 19 of its workers in whose favour judgement was made. The company paid just some of the money and has since refused to honour the judgement and the court has now since issued arrest warrants for the principals of the company to ensure that they honour their obligations.
The new minister said that while officers would continue to do inspections throughout the country because of the alarming amount of complaints she would also be making visits to various companies.
According to the minister there is no company or agency in which breaches are found that will not be called out whether it is government or non-government. She pointed out that breaches were observed at the Guyana Power & Light Bartica office as well as at the Bartica Police Station. In case of the latter she said Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan was unhappy with what was found and immediately instructed that changes be made and GPL has also been making changes. The minister had met Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GPL Bharat Dindyal and other senior officers where what was found was discussed and an outline of what is expected was given.
The minister is also concerned about the number of complaints from workers who are finding that while monies are being deducted for the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) the scheme has no record of their contributions.
She said the government will take a position to ensure that businesses, agencies and even government ministries operate in the confines of the labour law. There are workers who have been working with companies for three years and are not confirmed and “workers are saying they are being used because the only reason they are not being confirmed is that at any time they could be dismissed without a reason.
“I don’t know why it is in the past that workers were just treated anyhow. And we are not going to only inspect the private sector but we have inspection what is going on in our own offices and ministries. The health and safety workers will be conducting their inspections and we will write to these ministries.”
Asked if complaints would have been received from ministries the minister responded in the affirmative and for her it indicates that the past government had no pride.
She pointed out that even at her office she has found issues giving the example of a stairway just out of her office and there is no sign indicating to visitors that it is the office of the minister.
“Starting from in-house you would see these changes…we have to improve some of the ministry buildings. We have an office located at Cornhill Street. The size of the rats in that building are as big as dogs and cats,” a clearly agitated minister said.
She said the rats are eating the wooden walls and the conditions are “horrible” adding that people should not be made to work under such conditions while pointing out that the building at Lamaha Street is filled to capacity. The issue of the workers operating in that building would have to be addressed.
‘No pride’
Minister Broomes made the point that Guyanese do not “take pride in public washroom facilities” and this she said starts from the ministries adding that “all of this has to be changed.” She called on businesses to take a page out of the book of Farfan & Mendes which recently opened a new office. The minister said she was amazed at the washroom facility and the lunch area.
“It speaks to pride and workers would feel so comfortable with such facilities. The bathroom area is above norm and I would want to see persons copying that… even the companies in mining and bauxite areas,” the minister said.
She also gave the example of BK International quarry facility in Essequibo at which she made a spontaneous visit; she was happy with the conditions as the lunchroom and washroom areas “were the best.” The minister said she found a qualified chef in the kitchen area providing the meals for the workers who indicated that she was employed by owner of the company Brian Tiwari because he wanted to improve the conditions under which his workers work. The visit was not planned and the minister said she was “shadowed” by the managers when she approached staff members as happened at other companies.
“You are talking about stone and dust and all of that and the standard there is up and beyond,” the minister said.
The minister put companies and business around the country on notice whether they are located on the coast or interior that they put “their houses in order.
“There is a serious problem in this country and persons were writing to the level of the President complaining about the conditions under which they worked.”
The minister cautioned all to adhere to the health and safety regulations.
