Union, Rusal battle over pay increase -bauxite company complains of poor world prices

Aug 28, 2019 News

Rusal and Guyana Bauxite and General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU) are at odds, with the latter demanding pay for its members that is equivalent to what Chinese-owned Bosai Minerals is offering.

Union leader, Lincoln Lewis

The Russian-owned Rusal, through its subsidiary, Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI), has control of the mines in the Berbice River area, Region 10.
According to the union’s General Secretary, Lincoln Lewis, the negotiations for better pay have been dragging on for a while now.
“We are asking for an increase in wages. We have made a proposal and Rusal has given us a counter proposal. We are asking for parity. The workers cannot be paid less than workers at Bosai.”
Rusal is offering 3.5 percent, with one percent already paid.
“We have told them no, we are not accepting that. That is far, far away from what Bosai is paying. We went to a conciliation meeting on Monday. Rusal wants to come out of conciliation and back to bilateral talks. We told them no.”

Rusal workers have been complaining about the working conditions in the Kurubuka mines area, Region 10.

According to Lewis, the union has made a written submission to the Labour Department and the two sides are to meet next Tuesday.
The union leader disclosed that the matter of pay dates back to 2009.
In a letter to the company, the GB&GWU said that it remains unacceptable that its members will continue to be paid less than the industry is offering.
“We expect a favourable response to our reasonable proposal. We cannot ignore the ten (10) years that you have lagged behind. If, however, there is no agreement reached, we will exercise our right to request arbitration. “
On August 20th, Rusal had written Lewis insisting that the global outlook does not look promising, in the near term. Rusal is arguing that aluminum prices dropped since 2008, affecting bauxite. Stressing that Guyana has a lower quality bauxite, Rusal claimed it has experienced increasing expenses.
Despite this, Rusal boasted in the letter, it continues to invest in Guyana.
Rusal has been clashing with workers.
In 2009, it fired 50-odd workers for downing tools in protests of working conditions.
A few months ago, it was in a standoff with workers over conditions, leading to a month-long stoppage that saw Government intervening.