“Our resilience has finally paid off,” said Leslie Junor, secretary of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) on Wednesday, after the Union and BCGI finally agreed to meet.
Junor made the statement to Stabroek News in the backdrop of the decision of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) and the union to finally— after more than three weeks— have bilateral meetings with an aim of ending the current industrial actions that the workers have taken. However, Junor noted that the union will be holding its ground until formal developments are made between the two parties.
“We would say that we broke down the company because they are stubborn and our actions, our resilience has finally paid off. We decided to go with them, to go the mile. We stood up and we didn’t bow to the pressure and it appears as though it will be finally paid off,” Junor emphatically said.
However, he noted that while the developments are positive, they will not take a lax approach and will continue their intense action against the company until there are more solid agreements than “just the company recognising the union verbally.”
“They are recognising the union verbally and hasn’t put anything into writing as yet and it is my view that if it was their genuine intention to do so, why didn’t they put those things into writing and get everything together?” he said, while noting that it is another tactic by the company to encourage the workers to resume working.
However, Junor stated that the tactic would not work and emphasised that their protest actions will not stop until they attach their signature to every aspect of the proposals relating to the terms of resumption.
“So unless the company adheres to our proposal and our terms of resumption, which is a document that follows every strike about certain things the company must do as it relates to victimisation of workers, taking back all of those that were laid off during the strike and giving us all the holidays on the calendar among other things, and they sign on and recognition those terms of assumption then we will not stop,” he added.
Junor related that currently, the workers protest on a two-shift schedule, where about nine to 12 workers monitor the blocked Berbice River to ensure that no one removes the obstacles, while other workers that have downed their tools on the camp site spend the day cleaning and preparing meals for their colleagues.
Others have also left the camp and gone to their respective families, and when they return, another set will leave the area to take care of their personal business.
In terms of supplies, Junor pointed out that when Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, visited them on the weekend, he brought supplies for them. They have also been receiving assistance through other avenues.
Junor made it clear that the workers have no intention of ending their industrial actions until the company caves in and formally agrees to their requests.
Industrial action by the workers commenced on February 15, after BCGI unilaterally imposed an increase of 1% to wages and salaries and were reluctant to negotiate with the union, which they said they did not recognise as the workers’ legal bargaining authority.
After the company refused to attend the first meeting facilitated by the Labour Department on February 18, it fired 61 workers, saying that clauses in their contract stipulate that they couldn’t strike. One worker was subsequently rehired.
Despite subsequent meetings between the government and the company, no middle ground was found and the industrial action by the workers was intensified. Eventually, the workers opted to block the Berbice River, preventing BCGI’s barges from entering or exiting.
Thirty more workers were subsequently fired, as the company was forced to close down parts of its operation.
Lewis has previously stated several times that they would only be bargaining with the company if it is prepared to reinstate the workers.
