-says all benefits paid
By Milton Grannum
Guyana Shore Base Inc (GYSBI) yesterday said that following the completion of a project which it had been working on for the oil and gas industry it terminated the services of 65 persons and paid them in lieu of notice.
Deputy General Manager at GYSBI, Rabin Chandarpal along with Public Relations Manager Gomatie Gangadin, spoke to Stabroek News yesterday at their Houston shore base.
Chandarpal confirmed that initially 65 persons were terminated as the company was expecting to be given more work by the oil and gas company however they were caught in a bind as that did not happen.
“We did indeed terminate the services of 65 persons, but just yesterday afternoon we would have (reversed the decision for) 3 because of where they are living and they managed to fit into another scope …The reason for it is that this project we are working on as part of the gas to energy project, GYSBI is a contractor out there and we are hired to execute specific scopes of work. What has happened after our initial startup of the project is that certain scope of work that we expected to be a natural add on to what we have already been doing has not panned out. We’ve not been awarded any future works. We were caught in a bit of a cul-de-sac for some period where we were trying to balance waiting for the client to give us additional works and at the same time maintaining our fleet of equipment out there, our workers out there all of the different investments we have on the ground. So we kinda got caught in this no man’s land where we were waiting. It eventually reached a point where we were not going to be given the additional scopes and I would say the project came to an end”.
He added that though the contract stated that the persons would’ve been employed for one year, GYSBI has executed work out at the same site before with some employees being employed longer than a year and some less, and had the company been given enough time to convey that they would not be given additional work the employees would’ve been advised in advance.
Gangadin added that “in one instance it was publicized that persons were employed for 5 months. But it might not be the same for all the employees as some persons were working at the site from a previous project with some employees’ employment stretching to even two years.
“Some of the persons who were terminated were out there from 2023 so they have also completed a year.”
Moreover, Chandarpal stated that though short notice was given to the employees, all benefits were paid.
“The fact that we were given such short notice and we had to do the terminations quickly, what we did is that we compensated those people in lieu of notice. In the contract it stated two weeks’ notice must be given. We gave them less notice but we also paid them for the two weeks, which everybody has received”.
When asked if in addition to the three persons whose service has been retained if more will be kept he stated that “as far as I know, no, because .. the three they are a part of many more who are still on the job so we have multiple scope of works going on out there. We still have I believe 55 persons out there. The 65 who have been released have been working on a civil aspect that has come to a close. We received no further order or purchase order or contracts from the client and we just don’t have a project out there anymore that those original persons were working on… the nature of the project work they were hired for initially, GYSBI shore base is different from the construction aspect. There is a reasonable expectation that if you come to work with the shore base if I am doing well, the shore base still has about 9 and a half years on our contract, you could almost consider it semi-permanent”.
GAWU’s representation
In a release to the media on Thursday the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) stated the need for fair treatment and respect for Guyanese oil sector workers and said that it stood in solidarity with the sixty-five young, qualified, and experienced Guyanese workers who, without any indication, were recently rendered jobless and are now clueless about what their tomorrows hold. GAWU did not identify GYSBI in its release.
The union said that the now jobless workers had shared with it that there was no information really forthcoming and there were vague references to certain clauses in their contract and the “slowing down of work”.
This most recent layoffs is yet another indicator of the troubling labour situation and the apparent disregard for workers’ rights and concerns in the burgeoning sector, GAWU said.
“We urge Guyanese to recognise the importance of their rights and to join us in advocating for stronger protections and decent employment”, the union said.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday at the union’s office in Kingston, GAWU President Seepaul Narine said that the workers “were given a year contract, some of them migrated close to the workplace, they uproot their whole life and then to be told that the contract has come to an end without any proper explanation. It is not that the sector is closing down, they are here but just that conveniently Guyanese workers are treated like that. It is a travesty. This is a sector that promises a lot of hope for people but the way the employers are behaving there is much to be desired”.
He said there is no hope to challenge the termination as there is a catch clause in the contract that allows the employer to end it before the period ends.
Stabroek News also learnt from General Secretary of GAWU Aslim Singh that one of the employees rented an apartment and furnished it.
When contacted earlier yesterday to find out if the labour ministry might be investigating the matter, Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton stated that he did not see the press release from GAWU and questioned which company did the termination. He added that though the persons might have had legitimate expectations that the job might last for a year they could’ve possibly signed on to a contract which stated that they can be terminated at any time.
“Suppose the contract said they are temporary workers, suppose the contract said they are on probationary period?”, he queried.
He added that for the ministry to investigate the matter there must be a basis, and that is what is missing most times with a lot of the matters. He added that GAWU should’ve had the contract side by side with the press release to stir action by the ministry.
“How can we investigate this? We have to have basis. The labour officers have a code of conduct and everything they do is guided by what the law says and they themselves can end up before the court if they breach rights of employers. If they want to take an employer to court they have to have basis. When we have a contract then we can have a proper conversation. Then my officers can have a conversation with the company to find out what really has happened, even though they signed onto a clause about termination, GAWU should’ve had the contract side by side of the press release to stir action by the ministry”, Hamilton said.
He added that labour matters and breaches can be reported anonymously, so the workers can take recourse to get past the conversation about speaking directly to the ministry.
However, Gangadin told Stabroek News yesterday that “the Ministry of Labour was advised of the layoffs on the 29th of October” through the Chief Labour Officer’s office.
Of the 62 persons terminated, five were females and 57 were males, the majority of whom were heavy-duty equipment operators.
