The Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union (GB&GWU) has nothing to hide. In the letter dated November 13, 2009, signed by me that the Bauxite Company Guyana Inc (BCGI) referred to in its “Information Memorandum to the Public” and threatened to “publish at an appropriate time,” the union wrote the General Manager, Mr Sergey Kostyuk, accepting the company’s No 1 option which read as follows:
“The Company will increase wages up to 10% and make retroactive payments. In order to perform this action it is necessary to carry out retrenchment of Workers in proportion according to the production volume decrease in 2009. Please be reminded that BCGI produced 1890 thousand ton of bauxite with 496 employees within 2007 and 1634 thousand ton of bauxite within 2008. In 2008 retrenchments amounted to as low as practicable 12 %. Production target for 2009 is 1293 thousand ton. Thus expected retrenchment may affect another 14 % of the current staff or 75 employees.”
The trade union adheres to a principle which says “nothing is agreed, until all is agreed upon,” which means that there can be no payment or retrenchment until everything enshrined in this proposal or any other, modified or in its entirety, is agreed upon.
For the union, an increase wages is one issue and retrenchment is another, and has to be dealt with separately, consistent with the Collective Labour Agreement. GB&GWU’s understanding of the “increase wages up to 10 %” meant that the increase can fall anywhere within the continuum from 1-10%. This for the union would have been contingent on the company 1) providing us with its work plan consistent with the agreement between the Government of Guyana and RUSAL, which would have given an insight into the performance level of the company and what needs to be done by the workers to help the company fulfil its obligation.
2) the operation plan for 2010 in light of the company projecting a production level that “may affect” retrenchment of 75 employees. For the union the operative words were “may affect” and the company would have had to produce justifiable evidence before there was an agreement for retrenchment.
Both the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act and the Collective Labour Agreement prescribed how retrenchment will be conducted. In the case where a trade union exists the company is legally committed to write the union, giving notice of retrenchment, honouring the stipulated period, engagement and agreement between the two parties. While the union advised the company that the retrenchment issue is separate and distinct from the wage increase and has to be dealt with independently consistent with the CLA and the laws, the company was not prepared to confirm.
It should be remembered that the option stated above was the company’s, that it has since run away from and threatened the workers not to accept.
The union is of the opinion that BCGI’s refusal to enter negotiations on its own proposal has to do with its not wanting the union to see its operation plan consistent with the agreement between RUSAL and the Guyana government. Also, wanting the union to accept retrenchment without providing justification and respecting due process. This is negotiating in bad faith and is the background to the company’s continued violations of the laws, CLA and workers’ rights we are witnessing today.
The GB&GWU calls on the Ministry of Labour to intervene now to stop the transgressions of workers’ rights and the violations of the rule of law.
Yours faithfully,
Leslie Gonsalves
General Secretary (ag)
GB&GWU
