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The Labour Minister and Mr. Persaud have a lot of questions to answer

Dec 20, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
Reference is made to Chief Labour Officer Yoganand Persaud’s letter “No meeting on December 15”and the Editor’s note (SN Dec 19). Both confirm my fear. On Dec. 18 Kaieteur News published my letter, “Workers deserve better pay and improved working conditions”, where I said workers do not need leaders who will use them to violate legal agreements and leaders who will support an employer to violate its legal agreement with them.
According to the Chief Labour Officer there was no meeting with the bauxite company and union scheduled for December 15 and neither union or company officials turned up for a meeting. The Editor’s note said that its reporter was informed by Mr. Persaud of the scheduled meeting that he denied. In a Kaieteur News’ (Dec. 19) report, “Some stakeholders’ actions not in best interest of bauxite workers – Sampson”, the union’s president said he read of the Dec. 15 meeting in SN on Dec. 10, telephoned Mr. Persaud and turned up for the meeting, but the company did not turn up.
The bauxite strike is a month old. The uniqueness of this industry and the refusal of the company to sit at the negotiating table, then its subsequent de-recognition of the Collective Labour Agreement are serious enough to have the Ministry take stern and immediate action to restore normalcy in the relationship. It would have help too were the Ministry working behind the scene, making the company aware of the labour law and its violation of it.
Now, where does this leave the issues of recognition, negotiation and resumption of all workers? After reading Mr. Persaud’s letter, the Editor’s note and the Union’s report, another unprecedented for labour, its makes it harder to say if the workers will ever get justice and the labour law respected via the Ministry which was specifically established to ensure this happens. Chief Labour Officer, Mr. Yoganand Persaud and Labour Minister, Mr. Manzoor Nadir have a lot of questions to answer.
Dindial Naipaul

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