The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) yesterday condemned the refusal of the management of Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) to accept and implement the arbitrators’ award in the dispute it has with the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) over the illegal sacking of nine of its workers.
The WPA also called on workers and their organizations throughout Guyana to show their solidarity with their fellow workers at GPL.
The party said further in a press release that “GPL’s unilateral abrogation of its commitment to be bound by the Arbitrator’s Award makes a mockery of the industrial relations process and should be condemned by all fair-minded Guyanese.”
The party commented also that to all appearances the 1992 election, which brought the PPP into government, “has spawned a new breed of petty dictators whose sole purpose is to deny workers their just deserts.”
The WPA expressed its wholehearted support for NAACIE’s call for the widest possible support in its demand that GPL act in keeping with the binding award, and urged that every effort should be made by NAACIE to expose GPL and its officials to international sanction.
NAACIE had said earlier that GPL had accepted the Francis Carryl Tribunal Award which entailed reinstating Gladstone Cadogan, Deonarine Ramroop, Otis Jamieson, Quacy La Rose, Rawle Benjamin, Brian Seecharran, Renville Mc Bean, Quinsie Huntley and Leon Andrews and for them to be paid in full but with a 33 1/3% reduction of the calculated accumulated sum.
In a press release, NAACIE said GPL had sent letters to the workers detailing the accumulated leave with the dates of return to work and it had started payment for leave passage allowance for some workers through an agreement with the current active Collective Labour Agreement between it and GPL. However, the union said, GPL had written to the aggrieved workers on Monday informing them that it intended to challenge the legal basis of the award and that it will continue to treat their employment as terminated.
