While government believes that it will have to be sterner with the Russian-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI), given its defiance in the face of demands that have already been made, it will be awaiting its recommendations for a solution to the ongoing dispute with workers, according to Minister of Social Protection Amna Ally.
“We are waiting on the bauxite company to give us a feedback. As everybody knows, we have put our cards on the table and we are awaiting them to give us a response,” Ally yesterday told Stabroek News. “There is every likelihood, though, that we will have to take it to another level but I don’t like to make conclusions; I want to give it a full chance so that we can look at all the options and then make a decision,” she added.
Following the termination of 60 of its workers, Ally, Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection with responsibility for labour Keith Scott and Chief Labour Officer, Charles Ogle met with representatives of RUSAL Vladimir Permyakov and BCGI Personnel Officer Mikhail Krupenin. Government had sought to have the workers reinstated but the company made it clear that it would not do so and later sacked 30 more.
Ally had said it was “ludicrous” that the company was seeking to recruit new workers while dismissing those in its employ.
“Why do you want to punish the existing workers instead of settling a dispute which is existing,” she was quoted as saying by the Department of Public Information (DPI) last week. “I can tell you for sure we definitely have to look at the future of the company. This is not right for workers to be punished in this respect,” she added.
The workers began striking on February 15th, following the imposition of a unilateral 1% increase in wages by the company, along with other unaddressed issues, including BCGI’s unwillingness to recognise the union as the workers’ bargaining agent.
Ally had met the workers and assured them that all issues would be addressed. She had said that getting the 60 workers who were dismissed back on the job was paramount. She also said that the union must be recognised by the company. After the company fired another 30 workers, the disgruntled workers then took to blocking the Berbice River, preventing the company’s barges from transporting bauxite.
“We get tired of the promises from the company, so we decided to do this…We have got the support from the community here at Maple Town and we blocked the river,” a Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) representative told Stabroek News.
“We are now calling the shots. They are dragging on the government and the government is dragging on the people. RUSAL is proud of their attitude towards this situation. It is total disrespect,” an employee said.
The employee further opined that in the interest of workers, it might be best that BCGI pull the plug on its operations if it has no intentions of improving workers’ wages.
“There are companies who are out there, ready to come and take over and that might be better for us. These people at RUSAL do not care for their employees and they keep saying they are not making a profit. A company can take over and there will be a smooth transition,” the aggrieved worker said.
The union on Monday maintained its call for compulsory arbitration to resolve the dispute, while saying it would not clear the Berbice River of encumbrances that have prevented access by the company’s vessels in exchange for the reinstatement of sacked workers, under the current conditions.
The union’s position came in wake of an apparent offer by the company to reinstate workers who were fired.
Following over two weeks of industrial action, both sides were expected to meet with the Labour Department in Georgetown on Monday but separate meetings were held instead as BCGI continued to refuse to meet with the union. It has maintained that it does not recognise the union as the bargaining agent for the workers.
It is unclear who or which entity the company believes represents the workers as the workers themselves have said that the union speaks for them.
Chief Labour Officer (CLO) Charles Ogle and other officers facilitated a meeting with the company’s management, while the head of the GB&GWU Lincoln Lewis and other union representatives as well as the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) President Coretta McDonald and Federation of Independent Trade Unions Guyana (FITUG) Vice-President Seepaul Narine were facilitated in another meeting.
The unions later called the arrangement disrespectful.
After the meeting was concluded with the union, Scott, who has responsibility for labour, was also questioned and he said the company will be putting forward some proposals which should be received by the end of the day. He said those proposals will be given to the union for a collective decision.
“There must be concern at some point. The parties have to meet at the table… it will happen,” he said, while noting that the prospects of BCGI leaving the country did not come up in any of the meetings.
Ogle, who kept refusing to comment after being pressed by the media, said the company is going to submit its proposals in “black and white.”
Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman had explained that a request was made to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission to conduct a technical and legal assessment of all the local operations of the RUSAL and the legal and other consequences of closure.
A report was expected to be presented yesterday to President David Granger and ministers for a discussion on the way forward but the company did not submit its proposals.
