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The treatment meted out to bauxite workers would never happen to GuySuCo employees

Mar 24, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
I write to express my condemnation with what is happening to the bauxite workers employed by the Bauxite Company Guyana Inc. whose ownership is shared by the Russians and Government of Guyana.
For those paying attention to this dispute it is very clear Government seems determine to destroy some workers to the extent that they feel no guilt or remorse breaking the laws in order to achieve their aim.
Hard as Minister Nadir tries to skirt his ministry’s illegal actions with denials, excuses and attacks on the workers, it is clear his ministry does not want to lift a finger to protect a group of people who must be hurting over the fact that their rights are being violated in the land of their birth and the custodian of the laws are actually part of it.
Everyone, including Komal Chand and Kenneth Joseph know that the treatment meted out to the Bauxite Union and workers would never happen to workers of sugar and the industries NAACIE and GAWU represent.
Public servants, teachers and their unions along with the Trades Union Congress and its college have faced similar ill fate. FITUG is the federation of the PPP and supports the party’s selective anti-working class agenda and attacks on some workers.
In return they get what they want with the exception of the GLU and CCWU’s workers whose leaders are yet to deliver any comparative gains to their membership as seen with NAACIE and GAWU. It is known the PPP took away the TUC subvention and only gives to FITUG.
Critchlow subvention was also taken away. Now with GAWU having a college it’s reasonable to conclude that subvention will be diverted to them.
When the bauxite workers struck in November Government flew in the army and riot squad on them. When they struck in May the company took them to court. And mind you this company has on its payroll a labour consultant who was the country’s chief labour officer. On the other hand when sugar workers strike (last year there were 206) no army or riot squad confront them and they always get what they want even as production continues to decline and GuySuCo has to borrow to pay increased wages and API bonuses which taxpayers have to repay.
The bauxite union and company asked President Jagdeo to re-instate bauxite workers’ tax free overtime which he took away and kept with sugar and he refuses to comply. These same workers have had their pension plan broken up by the Government and their every efforts at economic independence crushed.
The picture is clear or are people too afraid to call it for what it is and condemn it? The fact that society seems helpless to these glaring discriminations and law breaking, with some actually immobilized by fear says how far and fast Government has sunk into a dictatorship. It is also very troubling that some cannot resist the temptation to resort to cheap political grandstanding to score points at the expense of the workers’ rights and laws being broken.
David Patterson

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