Opposition Leader will meet with Rusal workers

Mar 01, 2019 News

Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo has said that his party intends to meet with workers of Rusal to have them air their concerns, and lend to a solution for the current issue of workers’ rights being infringed upon by Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI).
Jagdeo had, since the issues reached the public weeks ago, commented publicly, stating that the company must adhere to the Constitution of Guyana, but he has not made any effort to provide assistance.
Asked why he hasn’t had briefings with Rusal as he has had with oil giant ExxonMobil, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary said that Rusal never requested a briefing with the Opposition, as Exxon had done. He said that he cannot request a briefing from a private company. It was Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, who instructed Exxon, with which the government is conducting business, to brief the Opposition on matters related to the country’s budding oil and gas sector.
“Did [Rusal] request to brief us? The answer is no.”
It is Jagdeo’s contention that the government must make an effort to involve the Opposition in its current negotiations with Rusal. He said that, though the PPP is concerned, it cannot pronounce on whether the company should be sanctioned, because he does not know whether Rusal has actually breached any laws.
The meetings, he said, between Rusal representatives and Ministers Amna Ally and Raphael Trotman, have been closed door meetings.
“It seems as though it is all about politics. Ally goes to a meeting and she carries the entire media there. The workers’ interests’ must be protected by the Government of Guyana. That’s clear. But it can’t be a media show. We don’t know what Rusal told them, because Rusal has sent people to meet with the government. They had private discussions. We’re not privy to those discussions. We don’t know what they were told.”
Jagdeo nevertheless said that the PPP intends to meet with the workers on the issue.
He contended that the current handling of the issue by Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally, is less about finding a solution and more about putting on a “media show”. In this regard, he said that he does not want his engagements with the workers to be superficial.
The Opposition Leader also criticised the Trades Union Congress (TUC), who gathered in front of Rusal’s office on Forshaw Street yesterday, protesting so that the government would be pressured to act against the foreign company.
He described the TUC’s actions as duplicitous, as he contended that they only want the Opposition to get involved when there are issues, but that the TUC doesn’t credit the PPP for the good work it has done for workers’ rights.
Jagdeo contended that the TUC did not speak out for the sugar workers when 7000 of them were laid off.
He said, “Not a single set of energy from the TUC, and people of every race work in the sugar industry. What about the 1,972 Amerindians who were fired by this government? Not a word in solidarity with those people who were fired. So it’s not just about people coming in from abroad and treating our workers badly. This government has treated our workers badly for two years.”
He said that the PPP’s track record on workers’ rights has been a strong one; that the party’s time in government was spent keeping the economy open for investment to foreign investment, while still protecting workers.
“We’ve been on the forefront of struggle for workers of Guyana. The bauxite workers always have our solidarity, and they’ll continue to have it,” Jagdeo said.

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Opposition Leader will meet with Rusal workers

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