The Russians don’t know how resilient and fired up we are

Feb 02, 2020 Eye on Guyana with Lincoln Lewis, Features / Columnists

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There’s doubt RUSAL, the Russian management of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) cares how Guyanese, more so the workers employed at this company and the residents living within the four surrounding communities, see them.
Management has taken the gamble that with some political support in our politically fractured environment, it is enough for them to run roughshod over Guyanese in pursuit of their national interest. They are ignoring the singular most indomitable thing, regardless of political and ethnic divide, that binds us together.
They don’t understand that deep within our bones lies hatred for oppression and domination, and in our soul resides a boiling passion to confront atrocities wherever or whenever they exist, and stand up to whoever think they could commit same on us. They ignore the fact that almost all Guyanese can identify with this history.
It is a history where ancestors crossed the Bering Strait by their own volition and chose to settle here, but fiercely resisted attempts to enslave them by those who came as ‘discoverers;’ another, the Middle Passage in chains but never accepting a subhuman status, evident in the acts of rebellions waged against the enslavers; and still another, courted to come on the promise of a better life but retaliated against the poor conditions of work and standard of living.
They ignore that notwithstanding the racial clashes of the 1960s, such did not stop our collective quest and fight for political independence or the embrace of Guyana’s two premier leaders when that day dawned on 26th May 1966.
They haven’t lived our experiences and won’t understand when I say Guyanese workers of BCGI are fired up! If they think they have licked them down, better than them have tried, for centuries, and failed. Such is the legacy we carry with pride and are prepared to defend, at any time!
You see, the management can’t understand why after 10 years of workers’ battling them to respect basic human rights, persons have not grown tired or weak. They are confounded why Willie Lynch’s tactic of divide and conquer, or having a man go hungry would make him live on his knees, is not working.
Neither can they understand why our backs aren’t stooped but remain ramrod; why we stare them back and speak to them as equals. They will never understand, because they didn’t think it worthy to seek to understand and respect the workers and communities’ culture (our lived experiences) – characteristics of smart businesses and good corporate citizens.
Last Friday, Sis. Coretta McDonald, President of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, some others and I paid a visit to Aroaima. This was my second for the week. Tuesday and Wednesday, Leslie Gonsalves, President of the Guyana Bauxite & General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU) was there. These visits are to engage with the workers and residents of the four communities in finding resolution to the impasse.

Bauxite workers are fired up! The communities of HuruHuru, Landerville, Kwakwani and Lamp Island are fired up! They are of the view the intervention by the Government last year came as a result of them standing as one and refusing to relent, until it was recognised they too are citizens of Guyana with rights and freedoms guaranteed in our laws.
And whereas all are conscious that almost for a year, efforts to negotiate with RUSAL have been met with bad faith, and the Department of Labour’s refusal to exhaust the Grievance Procedure is lending tacit support, they remain undeterred, for justice must be served and they are prepared to hunker down for the long haul.
All are aware ours is a history where nothing was gifted but everything fought for, and some things take longer. The view is also held that it is time Government look for an alternative to RUSAL.
The affected communities do not hold dissimilar views, for they too have been treated with contempt. Residents are of the view that BCGI has not been a good corporate citizen. For instance, the amenities they enjoyed under Reynolds and Alcoa have been denied. BCGI is also selling electricity to businesses in MapleTown, which is part of Aroaima, equivalent to the charges of GPL, though it has no license to sell.
The community of HuruHuru – an Amerindian Mission – whose residents are farmers and loggers, find that to bring their logs to the waterfront using the road, a toll has to be paid to the Russians, who also determine when they can or cannot use the road. These people have created a state within a state. It is not known whether the Coalition is aware of these inherited situations, but an investigation ought to be conducted with the aim at corrective actions.
BCGI has laid off 288 workers (142 on 23rd January and remainder on 30th). These acts violate Section 12 of the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act.
First, they sought to deceive, saying government did not grant permission for the importation of duty-free fuel. The next deception was the Berbice River is blocked and the barge cannot go for the fuel and take to the power plant. The barge was always outside the blocked area, and the blockade never interrupted fuel getting to the plant.
GB&GWU is on record as saying that the timing of the recent unprovoked conflict is suspect – it is not accident, but strategic, in light of the nation facing General and Regional Elections in a few weeks ,which could create social upheavals and/or influence the results.
It is being reiterated – the Government of Guyana, from the inception of this impasse (10 years ago) always had the support of the people to do what is right. What the people are asking is: ‘Does our government support us in taking a stand against the relentless attack on our sovereignty and birthright?

Persons are travelling from as far as Kwakwani and Lamp Island, 12 and 13 miles away, to Landerville, where the workers and residents are congregating and camped out.
In our eyes, the Russians’ conduct is not unlike those before that tried and thought they’d be allowed to disrespect us, or Venezuelans who tell themselves part of Guyana is theirs.
Guyanese will band together against any foreign force that seeks to threaten our inalienable rights and the sovereignty of this nation our forebears fought for and bequeathed us. And no internal force(s) colluding to create a tenuous environment for self-serving end, will break the back or dampen the spirit of the unconquerable!

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)

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