The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) has rejected the statement by the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) in which the union expressed concerns about what it termed “the high-handed manner” in which the ERC was attempting to address its call for a public inquiry.
The union had called for an inquiry “into discrimination meted out to BCGI employees and the GB&GWU based on race and political geography.”
The ERC in a press release on Friday stated that the Commission “views this statement as baseless, reckless, sensational and mischievous and calls upon the Union to fulfill its commitments as agreed to, when the preliminary meetings were held with the Commission and representatives of the Union on January 8, 2010 at Watooka House, Linden.”
According to the ERC, the Commission “is still awaiting a letter from the Union stating that Mr. Carlton Sinclair is authorized to make a complaint on behalf of the Union. The letter was promised at the initial stages of the discussions between the Commission and the Union.”
The release said further that the ERC is also awaiting statements to substantiate allegations made against RUSAL for the Commission to determine the way forward.
As was agreed at the first meeting, the release stated, a team of ERC investigators revisited Linden on January 13 to take statements from persons whom the Union had said were willing to make available information for the investigation but no one showed up.
Therefore, it is misleading for the Union to state that it “awaits a response from the ERC’s Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Yvonne Langevine, for the modalities and scheduled timing to commence a public inquiry that is “transparent and impartial,” when no such commitment was made, the release stated.
The Commission also expressed “great concern” that its Chairman Bishop Juan Edghill had been singled out for “unwarranted attacks when he was part of a five-member team which held preliminary meetings with the Union, RUSAL management, unionized workers, and staff of RUSAL who are not members of the Union.”
The ERC declared that it is important to note that all the meetings were recorded and the Commission is of the opinion that the Union’s press statement is “mischievous and can serve no possible good for the workers and the country as a whole.”
The ERC in the meantime reassured members of the public that “once a complaint is properly put forward to the Commission and a prima facie case has been made out in keeping with its rules and procedures, the Commission will proceed in an impartial and transparent manner to investigate.”
