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Guyana Goldfields employee says things “real nice”

Jul 11, 2015 News

– Denies claims of underpay, abuse

As some workers of the Guyana Goldfields Inc. continue to vent their frustrations over conditions at the company, a lone employee has come to its defence.
The employee, Cleveland Jacobs, is maintaining that the allegations contained in a letter published in the Friday issue of Kaieteur News, are untrue and slanderous.
The letter published in the Friday issue indicated that some “frustrated workers” of the AGM Guyana Goldfields were working in “a prison of cheap labour”.
According to the workers, they have no rights and are being underpaid for difficult work.
They claimed that while expatriate workers and local managers are paid “exquisite salaries”, the main builders of the mine are being paid next to nothing.
They claim that, in the case of termination, they will receive no benefits or legal rights to maintain their families or themselves. Further, the workers said that due to the unavailability of jobs they are forced to endure the system while they would be fired if they protest.
“This is all about underpaying and abusing Guyanese rights in a land loaded with wealth and resources, where only expatriates and local managers benefit,” the workers complained.
However, Jacobs has offered his own version of events; according to him, the conditions with the company are not only acceptable but have seen him being treated with “deep respect and the highest of regard”.
“We have it real nice. We are fed three square meals a day and the food is sufficient and nicely done in a cafeteria-like setting…I like working for this company. We even have health and medical insurance for our families,” he said.
Jacobs, who has been working with the company since 2007 during its exploration phase, further said that while quite a number of terminations are expected, they are not unreasonable.
He explained that a Peruvian Company had been hired some 18 months ago to construct a mine for Guyana Goldfields. In the process, a number of men had been hired to work during the construction phase.
However, he said, now that construction is winding down, most of them men would have to be sent home since fewer numbers will be required. Nonetheless, he said, instructions from the Country Manager indicated that workers who were with the company since its exploration days, or who have the most years of service, should be hired first for the production stage.
“The Peruvians would soon be gone and it only makes sense that the persons that were hired for the construction be laid off; no way can all those men be kept on,” Jacobs stressed. He continued, “I sorry for them but I do not think that they should tell lies to slander the company because of that.”
He added that he is unsure whether the terminated workers will be paid a construction completion bonus. However, he suggested that they should be asking the Peruvians to pay them.
Meanwhile, the frustrated workers are calling on the new Government and specifically the Ministry of Social Protection (formerly the Ministry of Labour) to look into their plight and visit with them.

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