Yesterday morning, the Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton along with the Acting Chief Labour Officer, Michelle Baburam and Senior Labour Officer, Prandatt Basdeo met with officials from Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL) to discuss problems that were highlighted by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) last week.
A statement from the ministry yesterday noted that GAWU had called on it to facilitate collective bargaining between the union and the company, following claims that employees’ rights were being violated and the company has also been refusing to engage in dialogue with GAWU.
During the meeting, the statement said that Hamilton told the officials that workers and their unions must be respected at all times. He added that refusing to engage with the union is an infringement of Guyana’s laws.
Subsequently, he instructed Baburam to write to the company’s most senior officials, inviting them to a meeting slated to occur within two weeks. There the matter will be thoroughly discussed and if there is no compliance, the Minister will be visiting the company’s operations at Mabura Hill, Region #10.
GAWU has since extended its gratitude to the Minister for his intervention, the release said.
