The recalcitrant posture of the majority Russian-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI) towards the right of their employees to be affiliated to trade unions of their choice has now become “a stern test case” for government “that could now present itself as a measuring rod for determining its own commitment to protecting workers rights…,” General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) Lincoln Lewis has said.
Lewis was at the time responding to questions put to him by the Stabroek Business following reports of activity, which Lewis has described as “a new wave of tyranny” at the BCGI’s Berbice River operations.
Stabroek Business has learnt that BCGI is in the process of altering the conditions of work of its employees in a manner that outlaws union affiliation. This, Lewis says, transgresses The Trade Union Recognition Act (Chapter 98:07) Section (23:1) which commits employees to treating with recognized trade unions and engaging in good-faith negotiations.
Lewis, who is also the long-serving General Secretary of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU), the official bargaining agent for the BCGI workers, has repeatedly and publicly pilloried the Russian management of the company for perpetuating “serious crimes against industrial relations procedures.”
He said blame for the current situation “can no longer be placed solely at the feet of the company. Since its accession to office the Government of Guyana has had more than enough time and ample opportunity to hold the BCGI’s feet to the fire as far as proper industrial relations practices are concerned. Like its predecessor, it has failed to do so without, in my opinion, any good excuse.”
Lewis said that both sides of the coalition that now form the present political administration will doubtless recall that they had not only passed a motion “on the matter of BCGI’s excesses” in the National Assembly but had also “marched in the streets with us on this issue.” Since 2009, the BCGI has refused to treat with the GB&GWU.
This week Stabroek Business spoke with two BCGI workers, who repeatedly requested that their identities be withheld for fear of recrimination. Both employees said they had learnt that the company had prepared new conditions of service to which they are likely to be asked to affix their signatures making clear that they do not need the representation of the GB&GWU. One of the two workers said he had no doubt that the company’s ploy would be to attempt to coerce most of the workers into signing on to an arrangement that excluded the union then find reasons to remove the remainder.
Since late last year, following a visit to the BCGI’s Berbice River operations by then Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection Simona Broomes, it had been announced that the Labour Department of the ministry had launched an investigation into the treatment of workers there. At that time both the issue of union representation and safety and health considerations had arisen.
Just under a month ago, a meeting of labour leaders had listed a number of issues, including the industrial relations challenges at BCGI, on which they were seeking audience with President David Granger.
Lewis said he believed the signal which BCGI was sending that it would not engage the GB&GWU was intended for “a much larger audience that includes the government. It could well be that they are now ready to throw down a gauntlet to the government on the matter of trade union recognition and its other excesses.”
Asked whether he felt the GB&GWU still had the level of support within the BCGI workforce to retain the bargaining unit, Lewis said the vast majority of workers at BCGI had taken “great risks” to remain loyal to their union. “It may not always have been a perfect relationship but I believe that the workers at BCGI understand clearly the kind of tyranny that can transpire in the absence of union representation,” he added.
