The signing of a conciliation agreement has paved the way for wages and salary negotiations between the Bosai Minerals Group and the National Association of Clerical, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NACCIE), who represents workers who have been protesting for increases.
Branch Chairman Whitney Graham told Sunday Stabroek that the protest has been called off with the understanding that negotiations for pay increases and shift benefits would get underway.
The negotiations are scheduled to commence tomorrow and would be moderated by the Ministry of Labour. Should the union and Bosai’s management fail to meet an amicable solution, they will have to move to arbitration, Graham said. However, he is hopeful that the conciliation would yield benefits and workers’ demands would be met.
Graham explained that workers are calling for a 10% wages and salary increase and to be paid a $100 more per hour for nightshifts.
“Two years ago we negotiated and got a 7% increase for workers, last year workers got a 6.5% increase but this year they wanted to give us a 5% but we said no and they add on .5% saying that they are not making a profit,” he lamented.
He told Sunday Stabroek that workers are not prepared to accept any increase below 8% as he alluded to rising cost of living.
“They are saying the pandemic was bad for business but BOSAI didn’t close its doors. We, as workers, worked and produced. Ships came and ships went, taking away all we produced. So how can the company say they are not making a profit when we are seeing differently?” he questioned.
He added that even as management continues to claim it cannot afford the increase workers are asking for, it is currently engaged in expansions and development of pits.
“What they are telling us is not consistent. How can they be doing all of this and still saying they don’t have the money to pay workers,” the union representative argued.
Graham said that the union will also be pushing for the increases to be retroactive from April, 2021.
Additionally, he said that given the strains of working the 12-hour night shifts, the union has requested that workers be paid an additional $1,200 for the shift but the company has been unwilling to meet the demand.
“When you look at it, it is not a whole lot because it cannot equate to the risks we take at nights. We have to operate machinery and trucks throughout the night and ensure production runs smoothly. When we are at work, we don’t consider family because we have to keep our eyes open and stay focused on work,” he added.
On Thursday last, workers began striking to protest the company’s proposal of a 5.5% wages and salary increase. Workers are calling for a higher increase since they were given a 6.5% increase in 2020 when the pandemic had almost crippled the sector.
Scores of workers left their posts, forcing Bosai’s operations to come to a halt as they called on management of the company to offer a much more lucrative package.
One employee had share the view that the proposed increase from management was “disrespectful” to workers as they have been working continually to produce.
“Last year when COVID was bad we had 6.5% increase, this year the situation is better and more ships are coming and they want to give us 5.5% increase. That is unfair to us. Cost of living raise and we have been working the hours they ask us to but they don’t want to consider a higher increase,” the worker stated.
He pointed out that prior to the proposal, there was meeting with their union and it is on that note that the announced increase was met with strike action. “The company is in a better position, they can’t tell us differently because we have been working long hours and more and more ships have been coming to collect bauxite. Production was not decreased and our working hours were not cut, we have been working as normal,” the worker stressed as he argued his point for a higher wage increase.
