NIS payment at centre of dispute between Guyana Goldfields, workers

Jul 10, 2019 News

Remittances made to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) for workers attached to Aurora Gold Mines (AGM), which is operated by the Guyana Goldfields Incorporated, was among the list of complaints presented to representatives of the labour department, during a meeting to the company’s work site over the weekend.

A section of the workers during a meeting with the labour department and Guyana Goldfields

The meeting of the labour department is to facilitate an investigation into the complaints made by workers.
For two days, some 250 rank and file workers attached to the Mines and Mechanical Division of Aurora Gold Mines Inc. downed tools due to concerns over the treatment meted out them which they deemed to be abusive of their rights.
The Goldfield employees agreed to resume work on condition that the government works toward having their issues swiftly rectified.
During the site visit, the mines workers officially registered their concerns with the Chief Labour Officer, Charles Ogle, in the presence of Senior Vice President of the Canadian Mining Company, Suresh Kalathil.
Chief among the concerns are the lack of representation of the union of the worker’s choice. The workers have expressed a need to have National Mine Workers’ Union (NMWU), headed by Sherwin Downer, represent their interests in dialogue with AGM.
However, Downer was not invited to the meetings. He was reportedly not granted access to the mines. The workers, nonetheless, resounded a call to have the union in place.
The workers had complained they have suffered financial and other abuses at the hands of AGM’s management due to the lack of representation, the workers said that.
According to the workers the company has not been paying the NIS and other benefits up to date.
They claimed too that the lack of commitment by the company to pay a severance package to employees transferred from Guyana Goldfields to STRACON— AGM’s allied Peruvian contractor.
STRACON is focused on open pit and underground mining signed an open pit contract mining agreement with. The company commenced on July 1, last.
Given a back and forth with management over the issue, the workers called for the better systems to be implemented towards arriving at a solution.
“There should be no more oral agreements. We just don’t want talk. We want documentation — papers to show because AGM has a tendency of just talking and not following through on the decisions,” an employee of the company posited.
Chief Labour Officer Ogle noted that the labour department will work with the company to have the concerns of workers addressed within a matter of two weeks.
At the interim, Ogle warned that of verbal abuse of workers will not be tolerated.
“They have to be corrected forthwith; the cursing and abuse by the supervisors on workers will not be tolerated.”
He promised to investigate particularly the claims by the workers of non-remittances to GRA, NIS.
The Senior Vice President also gave a commitment to work with the labour department to address the concerns. Katahil noted, “The process will take a little time because we want once we make sure our decisions can be sustainable.”
“We have to make sure that the right process procedure is in place.”
He said too that AGM is committed that to rights of the people, policies and labour laws are upheld.
Meanwhile, in response to allegations that the company is not paying NIS for its employees Human Resources Manager, Peter Benny, said that the claim is outrageous and borders on a scandal.
“It can be verified what I have stated here as I met also with many senior persons at the NIS and the NIS even met with scores of employees on site during their routine visits .. This is not a hidden issue.”
According to Benny, the company is among the largest NIS contributors in the country and adds to the coffers significantly year in and out even before it went into production.
“In late 2017 the company changed its work schedule after it acquired its own plane to reduce the cost of transporting its employees from Georgetown to Aurora,” Benny added.

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