Workers Deserve More!

Oct 07, 2025 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I would like to commend Mr. Lorenzo Joseph and his colleagues for their courageous and steadfast efforts in spearheading the recent conciliation talks on behalf of the more than 600 workers at Bosai Minerals Guyana. Their committed stance yielded a negotiated wage increase for both 2025 and 2026. While being modest about his pivotal role in the negotiations, according to Mr. Joseph, “this achievement embodied the collective will of approximately 99% of the workforce, to raise their collective voice, where it was heard”.

At the conciliation talks held last Monday, local representatives faced off against Bosai Minerals, the region’s largest private sector employer, a government that has too often fallen short in protecting worker’s interests, and a union that has shown limited advocacy at a senior level on this matter. Thus, workers felt that they were at a disadvantage, and it was under those conditions that Mr. Joseph, his colleagues, along with the workers took a stand. A moment that called for more than a show of solidarity but involved support throughout these strike and conciliation efforts. Mr. Joseph in “The Times of Linden” explained how challenging this environment was as talks broke down several times before arriving at an outcome.

These repeated strike actions by worker which include those of 2008, 2014, and 2019 point to a systemic struggle of workers’ demands for better wages, salaries and other benefits in line with current living standards. The workers struggle for better employment conditions raises concerns for the respect of labour laws, and that unions and policy makers must ensure companies comply with them.

It is also important to emphasise that Bosai’s economic ability to pay its workers is beyond doubt. The company has significantly expanded its operations, with projections to produce over 4 million tonnes of bauxite in 2025, a historic high for the industry. This growth is backed by heavy investment, including the commissioning of new rotary kilns and the acquisition of Panama class vessels to boost shipping capacity. In 2023, Bosai launched a US$120 million kiln and MAZ project, expanding production. These facts prove that Bosai is not a company struggling for survival, but one enjoying steady growth and profitability.

Even as Bosai expands, workers in Linden continue to struggle against rising food and living costs. Where everyday staples continue to erode the real value of workers’ wages as inflation has already diminished the impact of the 7-7.5% which was bargained for by NAACIE last Monday (September 27, 2025). Productivity is also rising with new kilns enhancing operational efficiency yet compensation lags far behind their contribution.

When measured against the broader natural resources sector, Bosai’s wages remain below the mark. Though slowly, companies within gold and oil sector have started to implement pay scales and benefits more closely aligned to global prices, profitability, and cost of living realities. Bosai, by contrast is benefiting from record production while offering its workers the smallest possible increases. This imbalance is unjustifiable given the company’s scale, profitability, and reliance on the very workforce that makes its success possible.

This outcome at Bosai is only a first step. Both the company and the government must go further to ensure wages are aligned with the cost of living and the profitability of the sector. Given the mining industry’s central role in the economy, workers deserve meaningful increases; ideally above 8.9% and moving closer to 12%, anything less has already shown that it can undermine both morale and productivity.

The workers by their large turnout, according to Mr. Joseph was calling on Bosai, the Government of Guyana and their Union, to “create a level playing field and prioritise their interests.” Noting that, “without them, the work cannot be done.” A concern also raised by other workers across the natural resources sector. He also stated that “profit targets will not be met, and national growth will be at a decline.” This call captures the reality, that respect for labour must be placed at a position of precedence given that it is the foundation of a just and prosperous economy.

The Bosai dispute is not an isolated case. It reflects a wider demand for fair labour practices across Guyana, especially in the extractive industries. In a rapidly changing labour landscape shaped by several factors which includes, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, rise of AI, oil and gas and the evolving expectations around work to which companies and governments must adapt, workers are calling not just for fair compensation, but for recognition of their role in building national wealth.

Unions today must return to bargaining beyond wages and salaries, and demand other benefits such as housing development (Tucvlle Georgetown, Wisroc Linden, Kwakwani Upper Berbice) and “employer based” housing schemes as was achieved in the 1970’s by the TUC. These collective actions have never been about disruption for its own sake, but about forcing fairness and respect for labour laws. Workers in realising the reluctance of their union to aggressively pursue better wages and benefits on their behalf, must demand more be done or seek better representation.

The Bosai strike demonstrated that workers are still willing to raise their collective voice to ensure that salaries are in line with rising cost of living, respect for labour laws and to ensure that they received right, proper and strong representation from their union. It is by placing the interests of the people first, that our support must ensure that policies are in place to prioritise the working man and woman as the foundation of nation building.

Sincerely,

Sharma Solomon 

Mayor of Linden

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• Bosai, Deserve More, Mayor of Linden, rice, Sharma Solomon, workers

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