Secretary of the Linden Branch of NAACIE, Aggrey Darlington has said that industrial action by BOSAI workers has been officially called off but others say turmoil continues over whether to accept an eight-hour work day to avoid retrenchment.
In a telephone conversation with Stabroek News yesterday, Darlington said he had in front of him the terms of reference for resumption of work. Stabroek News had called Darlington after reports that BOSAI workers were continuing with industrial action.
Darlington said that terms of resumption had been agreed on Monday evening between the Ministry of Labour, the Bosai management and NAACIE and stipulated that industrial action would end at 7.00 hrs on Wednesday 12 August. Darlington further stated that the new terms of resumption nullified the agreement that was reached on Thursday 6 August in that the status quo in terms of working hours that existed before 10 August will be resumed and that the company was open to workers who wanted voluntary severance.
Stating that it was agreed at last Thursday’s meeting that the workers’ bargaining agent, the company’s management and representatives from the Labour Department would continue discussions on Monday 10 August, Darlington said that meeting, which was held in the conference room of the bauxite plant office, Mackenzie, was abruptly adjourned because a group of workers mainly from the Mines, gathered in front of the office and “disrupted the meeting”. He said later, on Monday evening, BOSAI issued letters of retrenchment to some workers in the Mines.
Darlington, who works in the Planning Depart-ment of the bauxite plant, said that when he was going to work on Tuesday morning, several mines workers were gathered in front of the north gate of the bauxite plant, declaring that they were protesting the retrenchment of some of their “brothers”. The Linden branch secretary of NAACIE said that he tried to reason with the men but they were resolved in their position so he called Georgetown and he was summoned to a meeting at the Labour Department in the city scheduled for 14.30 hrs that day.
He said that he and three other representatives of the union went to that meeting but the government officials met separately with representatives of the company and the union. “They met first with the company officials then afterwards they met with the union,” Darlington elaborated. Stating that the union believes an amicable solution could be reached whereby no one is retrenched and workers can work eight hours instead of 12, the Linden branch secretary of NAACIE stressed that he is not aware that official industrial action, sanctioned by the workers’ bargaining agent, is continuing. According to him, if some workers are continuing with such action, they probably know what they are doing.
Following the telephone conversation with Darlington, the Stabroek News reporter spoke to a number of BOSAI workers, who said that the company withdrew the retrenchment letters yesterday and is offering voluntary redundancy to workers who would like to leave. Some workers have voiced interest in accepting voluntary redundancy but they are concerned about the benefits they will receive. The workers in speaking to Stabroek News requested that their names not be mentioned in the article.
According to them the confusion stems from the indecision of workers as to whether they should accept working eight hours or demand that the twelve-hour work day continue irrespective of who will be retrenched. According to one employee, some supervisors in the mines and two of the three shifts in the mines want to maintain twelve hours work uncaring that some workers will be retrenched.
