The Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union yesterday said that the Ministry of Labour has appointed Francis Carryl, Chief Industrial Relations Manager, GuySuCo as the arbitrator in the dispute between it and Rusal subsidiary, the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI).
It was the latest development in a dispute which has festered since May 2009 without much progress. Minister of Labour Nanda K Gopaul last week ordered arbitration in the matter, something the union had been pressing the previous Minister of Labour for without success.
The GB&GWU yesterday said that the first meeting is scheduled for 13th March, 2012 at 4:00pm at the Minis-try of Labour, Georgetown.
“The GB&GWU looks forward to the commencement of this historic event. For it creates the opportunity for the parties to present their case at the table before a tribunal. And most importantly it puts the nation back on the path of holding our labour laws sacrosanct. Expectation is held that the meeting will proceed in as much as information has reached the trade union community that the company is being advised to stop the proceeding through a court injunction. The union has had prior experiences of aborted talks, notably the December 2, 2009 scheduled meeting with the Ministry, when the company presented the ministry and union with a letter dated December 1, 2009 saying it has terminated the collective labour agreement with “immediate effect,” and thereafter walked out of the ministry”, the statement said.
The union said that being aware that Mohamed Akeel, former Chief Labour Officer, is the company’s industrial relations consultant, it is expected he will “play a pivotal role in impressing upon the employer the importance of a safe and harmonious climate for workers/management morale, productivity and the financial wellbeing of both.”
Based on the Ministry’s letter dated February 29, the union and company were advised that the Terms of Reference for the arbitration will be:- “To enquire into the difference between the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union and the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI-RUSAL) specifically to determine whether the company and or the union has indulged in prudent industrial/labour relations practices and whether or not they have complied with all known labour and industrial relations laws and conventions as they relate to:
1. The wages dispute between the Company and the Union with respect to the period January 1. 2009 to December 31, 2010 which resulted from the application of Term # 7 of the terms of Resumption signed between the Company and the Union on August 25, 2009.
2. The dispute which led to the suspension of sixty seven 67 workers who pro-tested unsafe working condition at the Company’s operation during the period May 2009.
3. The dispute between the Company and the Union with respect to the dismissal of fifty seven (57) employees from the Company during the period December 1-10, 2009.
4. The dispute between the Company and the Union with respect to the dismissal of five (5) employees namely; (1) Winsworth Blair, (2) Elmiton Mc Almont, (3) Laurel George, (4) Marcel Odonoghu and (5) Lennox Daw, who were in protest over conditions of storage of food material in areas allegedly infested with rodents and roaches, and the use of the said food materials in the kitchen to prepare meals for staff at the Aroaima Location.
5. The allegedly threatening of workers by the General Manager of BCGI, Mr. Ruslan Volokhov on May 8, 2011 who were protesting the non-availability of potable water at the camp site in Aroaima.”
