– want fired, suspended colleagues reinstated
Permanent employees of Bosai Minerals Guyana Inc at Linden resorted to industrial action yesterday calling for a review of the snack allowance and the reinstating of workers who were fired, suspended and given warning letters.
A large section of the workforce, mainly from the mines and bauxite plant, converged at the north entrance of bauxite plant. They bore placards which read, “Stop the victimization – Peter Benny want to treat you like a junkie and work you like a donkey”, “MAMMY wuk we like junkie just fuh 2 survival crackers”, “Peter Benny don’t want to give basic rights to workers” among other slogans.
Striking Bosai workers picketing outside the bauxite plant at Linden yesterday with their placards.
According to representative of the National Associa-tion of Agricultural, Commer-cial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), Hillary Bobb, workers were forced to work for ten and twelve hours, contrary to their labour agreement, which requires them to work eight-hour shifts. He said that the strike action was called when two employees were fired and others suspended and issued warning letters because they went home after a regular eight-hour shift. He said the workers went home because they were dissatisfied with the biscuits, which they are given when they work the extra hours.
Bobb said that reasons for firing the two employees were not justifiable. “In the dismissal letter, they [Bosai] said that the worker shut down the kiln in an inappropriate manner,” Bobb said. “This was not true because the guy handed over to his supervisor who worked the extra hours.”
According to Bobb, union representatives had an audience with the Bosai’s management. “At that meeting, [Personnel and Industrial Relations Superintendent Peter] Benny wanted the union to acknowledge that we did not follow the procedure with regard to these workers walking off the job.” This he said was not true.
On September 23, he said, NAACIE General-Secretary Kenneth Joseph had called Benny informing him that he had learnt that the workers had planned an industrial action and that the union was in full support of the action. It was after this endorsement, Bobb said, that the employees were fired, suspended and issued warning letters, which was a contradiction to labour laws.
In a telephone interview with this newspaper, Benny said Bosai never forced workers to work extra hours. He explained that a year ago when the company was changing ownership the idea of a 12-hour shift was tabled. This, he said, was communicated to the Ministry of Labour, which said that the labour laws did not cater for same.
However, he said, the idea was discussed with the workers’ union and further with the workers themselves and there was an agreement for the workers to go ahead with the extra hours, for which they would be provided with a snack only for the first month. “We are not obligated to providing meals for scheduled overtime given that workers would have been given prior notice and would have had the responsibility of walking with their meals,” Benny said.
He admitted that the issue was frequently raised at various levels.
He said that following a meeting with the workers’ representative on Saturday last it was understood that management would review the issue of the extra working hours and snack/meals allowances. Nonetheless, it was clear that the workers were going ahead with their industrial action yesterday, he added.
Benny said that following yesterday’s action, management had put systems in place to keep the operation going. In the meantime, the company’s management will be meeting with the Ministry of Labour shortly to iron out the issue.
The workers said that they would remain on strike today. (Cathy Wilson)
A hungry man is an angry man…
For too long this company as is being runned by Peter Benny and is trampling on the rights of workers of this community, they think because we are supposedly so depressed that we aint got no more belly to do anything, but the people of Linden showed him, and anybody who wish to think that we are down and out and would allow anyone to trample our rights to justic, shall certainly think again. Note that this man has a lot of influence in the way this Chinese owned company is administered. But hey he’ll find out different when Ma returns the GM. The workers right must at all times be of most importance to any company survival, thus treating them accordingly. I got a question here for Mr. Benny, 1. Where in the world have you ever heard of schedule overtime that has no end in sight? more precisely indefinite overtime or continuous overtime, thats junkie treatment and No people of Linden are JUNKIES!!!!!!
I support the workers on the strike, bosai needs to treat the workers with respect and follow the labour laws of guyana.
Well here it goes again….
This nonsense has to stop. My co-worker stayed through his turnaround years ago because he felt compelled to do so. He did and his house burnt that same week he was supposed to be at home, killing his wife and child. Years later when he was asked to stay back, he refused and was fired. The poor guy was so traumatized because of what had happened in the past that he just couldn’t do it. His manager (who was heartless) asked Peter Benny to fire him and he did. Later the manager asked one of his employees to ask the guy to file a grievance so that he can get back his job after he found out what had happened years earlier. This happened at Omai where Peter Benny was the Personnel Superintendent. These people have no regards for local workers. That’s just a typical example of how foreign management has no regards for local workers and they are using Peter Benny as the middle man to do their dirty deeds.
The workers should hold out until they are treated like valued employees.
not too familier with the labour laws of guyana but if these guys worked for over 8 hours then i would think they would be paid overtime for the hours worked after an eight hour period, the snack only idea is kind of outdated and sounds outragious.
What nonsense is this.Crackers for working overtime, and it is not even supplied when it’s required.
I’m a barama worker n is the same thing they have no respect for human beings they always think that these industrial places r camps, the labor unions r also in the racket …….they tell u to strike for betterment n when u do and every thing is over its back to square one we need to get rid of some of the union rep who r corrupt and useless
The Owners, any where in the World they have their investments, are the cheapest Paymasters and worst Violaters of Workers RIGHTS.
Everything for their pockets. Que cosa!!
Peter Benny needs to remember that he is dealing with human beings. It would appear to me that the Chinese management does not know how to deal with these issues and have given him too much power which has resulted in labour relations problems. This is not the way to establish a productive work force.
Same all over de world and its called ” Corporate Greed ” the lillte man get the cracker crumbs while the big people takes all and then some…Does Wall and Bay Streets ring a bell?Dont know any labor laws of Guyana but one thing i know for sure..any work after 8 hours must be OT in my books…..unless one is woking in sweat shops…..Major culprits>>>>Industralise world led by no other that the>>>>> US….