Oldendorff is an anti-union company

Jul 10, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor;
A number of foreign and local Company operating in Guyana do not show respect to their workers’ rights and/or trade Unions that are elected by the said workers and also these companies in many instances don’t show respect to the Ministry of Social Protection’s Labour Department since many times when the Ministry of Labour rtequest these Companies to attend meetings at the Ministry office to address complaints made by workers or the workers Unions the management either don’t turn up or they send junior manager(s) who cannot make decisions on behalf of these Companies or they walkout of the meetings before it is concluded etc. which the PU&GWU sees as a big form disrespect to the Ministry which has a legal mandate to fulfill which is to ensures that Companies who are operating in Guyana respect the labour laws of Guyana and the rights of workers as provided and clearstipulated in the constitution laws of Guyana.
Editor, Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI/RUSAL) in May 2009 suspend workers who protested unsafe working conditions; in December 2009 there was the dismissal of 57 workers who were engaged in strike action for increased wages and improved working conditions, in November 2010 there was the dismissal of workers who protested BCGI’s cockroach and rat-infested kitchen, and the use of expired food items to prepare their meals.”
The Company’s Managing Director, Mr. Ruslan Volokhov wrote the then Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir, informing him that the Company had terminated the collective labour agreement and also derecognized the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU).
It has stuck to this lawless position which is a breach of Article 23 (1) of the Trade Union Recognition Act.
The then APNU/AFC joint parliamentary opposition party brought up the matter before the house requesting that Mr. Manzoor Nadir, the then Minister of Labour to have the matter addressed but no action was taken by the government as he did not fulfill his duty on the matter.
Further on the then APNU/AFC joint party campaign trail they had promised the people of Linden and the said dismissed workers that they will address the matter if they win May 15, 2015, general election which they won but the APNU+AFC Government is yet to address the matter.
Oldendorff Carriers Guyana Inc. (OCGI) Transshipment Company which is contracted to transship bauxite for BCGI/RUSAL operates in an anti-union manner and as if the Company is above the laws of Guyana for e.g., on the morning (June 25, 2015) the PU&GWU received numerous complaints from Mines Site Riggers/workers (OCGI Guyanese workers who fall within the Union Bargaining Unit/Union members) that they were abused by Expatriate Mr. Volodymyr Vatrych- Superintendent, OCGI Office Aroaima Mines Site, and his action was suspected to be supported by Expatriate Mr. Victor Olin- OCGI, River Manager (his boss).
The complaint received are following: Mr. Vatrych perversely instructed and give additional work to the Riggers that are not their rightful duty or fall within their job classification which is as follows; pick up garbage, wash down, weed grass ,clean yard and paint the buildings etc. and last night(June 24, 2015) when the Rigger were instructed by Mr. Vatrych to do said additional duties the Riggers rejected and stated that the instructions are out of order since it is not in keeping with their classification since a Rigger’s duty is to perform work on board oil rigs ,(in the case of OCGI) cargo barrages losing and tying of raps etc.
Mr. Vatrych in response to the Riggers stated that, “you all are uneducated so as your (APNU+ACF) Government because your Government not has run a bauxite company on its own they had to bring in a foreign Company(RUSAL) to do same and I am not fearful in anyway of your Government because I am from Ukraine and also Victor Olin will be coming up at this mines site this coming Friday to deal with you all “. By letter dated June, 25, 2015 the PU&GWU wrote to the Company General Manager, Mr. Pau; Mohnre questioning that the Company dismiss Mr. Vatrych due to his lawless statements and actions towards the workers but the company instead put some of the workers on the breadline and to date Mr. Vatrych is still employed and conducts his normal duty as Superintendent, at the Aroaima mines site.
Over the year Oldendorff has imposed starvation wages/salary’s increases on workers’ without signing or reaching a wages/salary agreement with the Union which is in breach of Article 23 (1) of the Trade Union Recognition Act.
But the PU&GWU will not accept the Company’s lawless behaviour this year (2016) if the parties do not reach any agreement on wages for the year 2016. The Union will send the matter to arbitration for determination.
On February 2014 Mr.Winworth Blair was wrongfully dismissed by the management of Bauxite Company in linden BOSAI after he was given time off to deal with an emergency at his home in Retrieve, Linden.
Moreover Mr. Blair took the matter to the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) which is the bargaining agent for the workers at BOSAI but due to the Union’s failure to have the matter legally addressed, Mr. Blair had brought the matter to the PU&GWU which he is an executive member of the PU&GWU. Mr. Blair told the PU&GWU that he had requested and was granted time off from the job to dispose of a dead cat in the ceiling of his home sometime around February 8th last year.
He said that he left his workplace at East Montgomery Mine around 7.30A.M in the company’s bus to deal with the emergency but when he returned to work between 3.00 and 4.00 PM that day, he was accused by a manager, who saw him at the Linden Hospital Complex around 8.30 AM, of not being where he had asked permission to go. Mr. Blair said that he was at the hospital to obtain chemicals to use on the decomposing carcass, which he successfully removed from the ceiling of his home before he returned to work. Mr. Blair said, although the managers sent members of BOSAI’s security department to his home and they verified that he had, indeed, disposed of the dead cat, he was placed on five days suspension and was subsequently dismissed.
The matter was taken to and is still at the Ministry of Social Protection and is yet to be addressed.
There is a number of matters published in the media against companies such a Guyana Goldfields and Troy Recourse Guyana Inc. and other Companies operating in Guyana that relates to abuse and violation towards workers’ rights and the rule of law.
Editor, Consistent with Chap. 98:07 of the laws of Guyana and based on the Union having obtained a Certificate of Recognition issued on the 10th day of March 2016 by the Guyana Trade Union Recognition Board the Union is the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for the non-management employees of Troy Recourse Guyana Inc. as such the Union will work hard towards taken to the Company and have addressed all matters pertaining to violation of workers’ rights and the laws of Guyana the Union will not take any rest until all matter is address in a timely manner , the PU&GWU is also the bargaining agent for the non-management workers of Oldendorff Carriers Guyana Inc. as such the Union will not allow the Company to continue to conduct its lawless behavior and violation of workers’ rights.
In closing, PU&GWU is calling on the Ministry of Social Protection to address all pending and unsolved matters and take a strong stand against foreign and local companies that are operating in Guyana that are violating workers’ rights and the laws of Guyana. The Union is absolutely not against any of the companies that are investing and operating in Guyana since we all need each other for e.g., Guyana needs investment provided by the companies and companies needs the labour provided by the workers hence the companies must respect the rights of workers and the laws of Guyana etc.
Micah Williams
General Secretary The People United
and General Workers Union

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