The long-standing grouse between the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB& GWU) and the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) will be dealt with during an arbitration process.
Labour Minister Dr Nanda Kishore Gopaul in a letter dated February 29 indicated that the three-year-old dispute would be dealt with at arbitration.
The minister has discretion to make such a decision by virtue of Section four (1) (c) of the Labour Act Chapter 98: 01. The arbitration process will see five core issues being dealt with: the wages dispute between the company and the union with respect to January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010; the dispute which led to the suspension of 67 workers who protested unsafe working conditions at the company during the May 2009 period; the dispute between the company and the union with respect to the dismissal of 57 employees from the company during the period December 1 to 10, 2009; the dispute between the company and the union with respect to the dismissal of five employees namely: Winsworth Blair, Elmiton Mc Almont, Laurel George, Marcel Odonoghu and Lennox Daw, who were protesting conditions of storage of food materials in areas allegedly infested with rodents and roaches, and the use of the said food materials in the kitchen to prepare meals for staff at the Aroaima location and the alleged threatening of workers by BCGI General Manager Ruslan Volokhov on May 8, 2011 as they protested the non- availability of potable water at the campsite in Aroaima.
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