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GAWU, OWTU sign MoU to adequately represent local oilfield workers
Kaieteur News – Guyanese oilfield workers may be one step closer to having adequate representation from Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) following the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on Tuesday between GAWU and Oilfield Workers Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago.
During the signing ceremony, President General of OWTU, Ancel Roget said the recent development of oil and gas sector in Guyana necessitates the capacity building for the local workers unions.
He said, “That is how we will have people in Guyana benefit from the resources of land. We have dealt with people who came to our shores with the sole goal of taking our resources and if we were not careful, they would have extracted the riches and leave the people of this land penniless.”
“We want to help our Guyanese brothers and sisters avoid this because if today there are standards in the oil industry, it is the standards that we have set,” he asserted.
President of GAWU, Seepaul Narine at the signing MoC in the presence of President General of OWTU, Ancel Roget, at right, and other Union Reps.
Roget held that the Trinidadian union is well able to aid GAWU’s efforts at stepping up representation.
“It stands to reason that with the recent development of the oil and gas sector in Guyana that they would turn to their brother union for advice, support, direction and training and development assistance on how to best have their workers, the people in Guyana, benefit from the resources of the land,” he added.
Meanwhile, GAWU’s President Seepaul Narine noted that the Guyanese union hopes to leverage the OWTU’s vast experience in the oil and gas sector amid efforts to officially represent oil workers in Guyana.
“Why this is necessary, is because oil workers in Guyana already face issues that include employers’ unwillingness to pay overtime and to provide appropriate personal and protective equipment (PPEs),” he said
Because these workers are not yet unionised, Narine explained that GAWU is largely dependent on the Ministry of Labour engaging the companies.
“In resolving issues of workers, one cannot depend on any Ministry of Labour whether the government is friendly to the contractor or not…It is only unionisation that will be able to take workers out of their difficulties,” Narine said.
Another challenge in representing workers is that different hiring companies source workers on behalf of the contractors. As such, Narine said that it becomes complicated representing the workers.
The GAWU and the OWTU have shared long-standing fraternal bonds going back several decades and in past struggles have stood in solidarity. As affiliates of the WFTU, the two unions have shared several common objectives.
The MoC will allow GAWU to benefit from the knowledge and skills from the OWTU which has represented workers in the oil sector for some 85 years now.
The memorandum in advancing the GAWU and the OWTU relations recognised that collaborative efforts between developing countries is an essential prerequisite in stemming the tide and protecting workers.
In a release GAWU said, “In the spirit of renewed cooperation and advancing the protection of workers within our two (2) countries, the GAWU and the OWTU agreed to promote collaboration within several spheres.”
The parties to this memorandum have identified to engage in knowledge-sharing to protect and safeguard workers within the oil and gas sector within Guyana. This will be advanced through the areas of shared training, development efforts and the transfer of technical skills in the oil and gas industry to enhance workers’ knowledge of their rights and conditions to heighten their consciousness of workplace exploitation.
For the unions to share expertise and experience in advancing the rights and protecting the gains of workers within the unions and countries, the parties will also consider other appropriate and relevant collective actions in the interest of working-class protection and the development of Guyana’s social economy.
In the coming weeks, the unions are expected to enhance the memorandum.
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