The United States has granted Russian aluminium giant, Rusal a few more weeks to find a way to avoid sanctions but local workers remain worried and a task force set up to look into the matter has stalled though government says that it is taking steps to ensure their welfare.
“We continue to monitor a very delicate situation and to prepare,” Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman told Stabroek News, when contacted yesterday. “As these events are unfolding between Washington and Moscow we are unable to be intimately involved. Our Minister of Foreign Affairs is also monitoring the situation. Whatever the outcome, the welfare of the workers will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Protection and they are aware of the issues,” he added.
Rusal employs over 500 persons at its local operations. The company owns 90% of the Aroaima, Berbice-based Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI). The company’s operations are located on the Berbice River between Kwakwani and Linden, with employees from those areas making up the majority of its workforce.
Earlier this year, in April, the U.S. government added Russian magnate and owner of Rusal, Oleg Deripaska, to its sanctions blacklist in retaliation for Russian interference in the US general elections of 2016. The U.S. had given investors an October 23 deadline to sell holdings of debt and equity in Rusal and its parent company EN+ but on Friday, announced that this has been pushed back to November 12.
“EN+ and Rusal have approached the U.S. government about substantial corporate governance changes that could potentially result in significant changes in control,” a statement from the U.S. Treasury said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that his country was in talks with Rusal to remove it from the sanctions list and the extended date was “to allow sufficient time for review.”
The Guyana government had previously expressed concern at the implications for Rusal’s operations here. The David Granger-led APNU+AFC government subsequently established an inter-ministerial and union task force to holistically examine the way forward. It was feared that with investors forced to divest, the company would be forced to shut down its operations here.
BCGI employees yesterday told Stabroek News that they have not been given any word. “Well, all we hearing is that they [Rusal] trying to work out something so we don’t close off next month and government say if that happen, they gon take care ah we. The thing is we don’t know what take care ah we really mean…we don’t know if they will keep the operations as government operations and we continue work, if they gon give we a money, if they gon find another wuk for we in oil or what really,” an employee, who asked not to be named, told this newspaper via telephone yesterday.
“Everything happening with us [but] we are always the last people to know. It is September and next month is October when they supposed to pull out and we have not heard a single word from nobody in office, not a member of the task force…no one. We keep getting bits and bits from the union, or somebody that close to somebody in government, what we read on the net …but nothing concrete. It is not fair to us,” another senior employee stated.
One manager expressed his frustration that even the local banks are refusing employees of the company loans because they believe that their jobs are not secured and as such are high risk clients. He said that no one seems to be taking their matter seriously and with most of them being the sole breadwinners of their families, the situation is very troubling and leaves them vulnerable.
‘Impact’
Rusal also has operations in Jamaica and that country, through its Ambassador, made an appeal to the U.S government “in an effort to reduce the effects of the sanctions on over 1200 workers from WINDALCO, the livelihood of the Jamaican citizens and the local economy.” Jamaica was granted their waiver request until the October 23 expiry date.
But sources told this newspaper that George-town did not believe that it should join with Jamaica in its petition and as such that course of action was not taken.
Instead, Trotman and a team visited Rusal’s operations where they listened to concerns by workers of the impending sanctions. The government subsequently announced the setting up of the task force. The seven-member task force was given specific instructions by the APNU+AFC Cabinet “to hold discussions with the workers of Rusal on the impact of the sanctions on the work force.”
It was headed by Minis-ter within the Ministry of Natural Resources Simona Broomes and included Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma; President of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union, Lincoln Lewis; Member of Parliament, Audwin Rutherford; Ministry of Social Protection’s Chief Labour Officer, Charles Ogle; Member of Parlia-ment, Jermaine Figueira and Secretary Alicia James.
In July, according to Lewis, Broomes handed to Trotman, the draft ToR. The document, seen by this newspaper, listed nine areas which included that they must be able to call witnesses to testify under oath. None related to the impending U.S. sanctions and its implications.
According to the ToR, the task force, would among other things, inquire into the status of BCGI’s and Oldendorff’s adherence to the industrial relations principles enshrined in the Laws of Guyana, including, particularly, BCGI’s and Oldendorff’s acceptance, without prejudice, of the right of workers to be members of a union of their choice. It also sought to conduct a thorough probe into the state of relations between the Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union and BCGI and Oldendorff with a view to remedying such irregularities as may exist in the relationship at this time with a view to realizing its full and effective normalization.
Stabroek News was told that Trotman did not believe that the ToR was in keeping with Cabinet’s mandate and he wrote to Broomes informing her of this. A few days later, she announced that she would no longer be heading the team.
Lewis said that the document with the ToR also has recommendations to hold the company responsible to its workers and should not be ignored. “The report was handed in and since then nothing has been said,” he lamented.
When Trotman was asked about it he replied, “As for the task force’s report, this was more of a draft ToRs submitted which included some matters not contemplated by Cabinet so that has to be reviewed by Cabinet.” He informed too that since Broomes’ resignation, Lance Carberry, a director on the Board of BCGI was appointed.
Best suited
Lewis does not believe that Carberry is best suited for the post and that a minister of government should head the task force. “How can you replace a person with ministerial authority with someone with non-ministerial responsibly,” he questioned.
When the question was put to Trotman he that while “ultimately, the responsibility will be government’s” he believes that “few people know the bauxite industry as much as Mr Carberry and he is also a Director. So that gives him access to documents etcetera.”
“Mr Carberry is very capable and I have worked with him for many years. Unfortunately, Minister Broomes resigned for personal reasons so the next best person was found,” he added.
Meantime, Lewis is urging that the recommendations the task force made in the interim report be implemented. Those recommendations state that in the absence of negotiation, the application of increases for public servants be used as the barometer in determining increases for the workers and a decision be made as to its application.
As it pertains to the redundancy exercise, “Based on the decision of the companies to terminate their operation in Guyana, and since they have benefitted from concessions given to the mining sector, they pay a similar package that was applied in the case of LINMINE in 1993 and onward, BERMINE in 2002 and onward, and OMAI Gold Mines in 2004, which means that the minimum pay for each year of service shall be equivalent to six weeks for each year of service to the maximum of two years pay in benefits,” the document says.
