The Ministry of Social Protection’s Labour Department on Thursday hosted a meeting with members of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU) and representatives of RUSAL Guyana in order to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) crafted by the government.
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the MoU was to see workers of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (RUSAL) receive payments of income tax taken from their overtime wages, in November.
However, after discussions between the Minister within the Social Protection Ministry, Keith Scott and the representatives of RUSAL Guyana, the MoU was discarded by the Minister, since RUSAL requested more time to sign it, DPI said.
Subsequently, Scott issued a letter to the RUSAL Company demanding the effective release of payments to the employees under the company’s employ since October 1, 2016, DPI said.
According to Scott, the Government issued the MoU in 2016 and it was signed by all parties expect the RUSAL company, severely affecting workers of the company. The minister opined that after months of deliberations the RUSAL employees deserve to be paid.
“They (RUSAL Reps) left agreeing on the principle is correct and hopefully within a couple of days, they will start to affect the principle after making further consultations with their Director…But we can safely say the workers will be given their November money,” Scott told DPI.