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.
Labour Minister Dr Nanda Kishore Gopaul
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.
A release to the media on Sunday, March 4, stated that the issue will be part of an arbitration process that will determine whether the company, and or, the union has indulged in prudent industrial/labour relations practices and whether or not they have complied with all known labour and industrial relations laws and conventions.
“Conventions and laws are put in place to protect the weak from being exploited by the strong, mighty and lawless, and this is seen in the case of BCGI as it treats with the employees, their union, and their total disregard for laws, customs and practices within the Guyanese society.
“The decision of the minister has to be seen as testimony of the workers resilience that anything worth having is worth fighting for. This new development coming after a valiant two-and- a- half-year struggle is benefit derived by the workers’ militancy and fight for their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining as enshrined in the ILO conventions and the laws of Guyana. These were and will remain the instruments guiding the struggle,” the union stated.
That aside, the union noted that the struggle will continue, stressing that the labour minister’s decision brings another phase and the GB& GWU awaits the announcement of the arbitrator(s) that the process has begun.
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