The bauxite workers are at a disadvantage

May 12, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
Not even the PPP supporters and its officials can deny the Government is not practising discrimination against some workers. Observation is made of the seven-month old dispute in the bauxite industry with the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI) and the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) and the evident unwillingness by the Ministry of Labour to intervene and settle it.
Within the seven months of the BCGI/GB&GWU dispute, workers of the state-owned GuySuCo and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) have had numerous disputes and in each instance the government has moved with haste to intervene and settled, even overriding an Arbitration ruling.
In October 2009 wage increased talks between GAWU and GuySuCo deadlocked and on November 9, 2009 the Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir, imposed compulsory arbitration.
In December the Arbitration recommended a retroactive three percent increase for 2009 to be paid before March 2010. GAWU rejected the staggered pay schedule, demanding workers be paid before Christmas and proceeded on industrial actions to press its case.
The ministry intervened again and caused GuySuCo to respond to the workers demands, even though this intervention ran contrary to the Arbitration schedule. To this end, GuySuCo was forced to borrow money to make the payments.
On the Annual Production Incentive (API) bonus GAWU initially demanded nine days’ pay and the corporation countered with four days. On January 21, 2010 the Ministry declared the conciliatory talks deadlocked and on 15th February the union and corporation reached an agreement to pay six days.
Via letter dated 23rd March 23, 2010, GAWU demanded GuySuCo pay severance to 400 employees of Diamond Estate. The Ministry intervened and on the 26th April it was made known that conciliatory talks with GAWU and GuySuCo would begin on 29th April.
The comparison between sugar and bauxite needs to be made not only because of the perceived political allegiance of their workers but also because these workers are from the organised traditional productive sector and have historically been treated equally under previous government.
Additionally, both sugar and bauxite have government ownership, albeit less in bauxite.
The GB&GWU has made its case about the struggle and victory for tax free overtime under the PNC administration that was given to the sugar workers, then taken away from them by the PPP Government in as much as it is still given to sugar.
The union had also spoken about a collaborated letter between it and BCGI. It sent that letter to President Jagdeo seeking reinstatement of the tax free overtime in lieu of pay increase.
There was President Jagdeo’s refusal to respond, and the refusal of Minister Nadir to intervene in as much as BCGI walked away from talks at his Ministry.
In Minister Nadir’s labour analysis for year 2009, he noted there were 230 strikes, 130,345 lost man days and over $225.3 million in lost wages. Of the 230 strikes, 226 were initiated by GAWU which is the main representative of sugar workers.
He noted that this was in keeping with the recent trend where the sugar workers were the employees who engaged in industrial action most frequently. (http://www.mlhsss.gov.gy/news-mainmenu-45/247-high-number-of-strikes-last-year—nadir.html).
By reasonable deduction the sugar industry has had the greatest negative impact on the economy. Conversely, for the corresponding period, GB&GWU had two strikes.
At present, the government is trying to secure 400 sugar workers’ jobs by refusing to bow to GAWU’s demands for severance pay which would put these workers on the breadline. From the stand point of the Severance Pay Law and need for jobs preservation the government’s action makes sense.
On the other hand almost 60 bauxite workers were illegally forced out of a job by BCGI, a company the government is part owner of, and absolutely nothing is being done to enforce the law, save their jobs, and return normalcy to BCGI.
Mr. Editor, it’s time to call a spade a spade. This is an onslaught against bauxite workers. Veteran trade unionist, Lincoln Lewis, has written extensively on this matter, citing numerous cases, and drew attention to the fact the economic attacks started since November 1992.
He has called the government’s 18-year-old policies, economic genocide. The evidence and statistics are there to prove it. When will enough be enough?
M. A. Bacchus

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