Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman yesterday said he expects that production will resume at the operations of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) by Wednesday, signalling a possible end to the over one-week long stalemate between the company’s management, and the workers and their union.
A team of government ministers, including Trotman, met with executives of RUSAL, BCGI’s parent company, last week and Minister of Social Protection Amna Ally met workers at Maple Town, Aroaima last Friday. BCGI’s reluctance to recognise and negotiate with the union, the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU), was repeatedly raised at the engagements.
Ally assured that all issues would be addressed and said that getting the 60 workers who were dismissed back on the job was paramount. She also said that the union, GB&GWU, must be recognised by the company and had noted that government is waiting on a response from the company’s executives, which is expected this week.
Trotman, when questioned yesterday, said that he expects normalcy to resume at BCGI by the middle of the week.
“Our ministry is the ministry that deals with the production. The Ministry of Social Protection deals with the labour and industrial issues but I would expect for us to get back into production and normalcy certainly by Wednesday the latest. RUSAL ought to be able to give not just to the government but more importantly the workers some positive news,” Trotman said while adding that “nothing short” of the reinstatement of the 60 workers who were sacked is expected.
“I think RUSAL is still coming out of the throes of the sanctions (by the United States Government) and of course has to look at its future in Guyana… and whether the Government of Guyana wishes to review the licence altogether. But it is obvious to us that the status quo cannot continue, that is every two or three years there is an eruption,” he added.
While the company has refused to accept that the GB&GWU is the authorised bargaining agent for the workers, Trotman said that he believes the union was validly elected and, as a result, should be respected in order for there to be a normal cycle of industrial relations.
He said the government wants to see that the workers are comfortable both with their wages and conditions of work as well as seeing the company earning a fair rate of return on its investment. “So it’s finding that balance in aiding the company and ensuring that the workers are okay. We stood with the company during its travails with the sanctions and we expect that the company will stand with us now in the mines in Guyana and respect both the laws and the workers,” he said.
When questioned about the measures that the government will be putting in place to ensure that a similar situation doesn’t recur, Trotman explained that better systems are needed in place for managing the relations between the management and the workers and BCGI needs to understand that there are laws that it has to follow as well as a Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“The answer lies between getting a firm Collective Bargaining Agreement between the company and the workers. And so as long as there is an absence of such an agreement, we are going to have this tension that erupts periodically,” he added.
Head of the GB&GWU Lincoln Lewis also related to Stabroek News yesterday that the union has not received any communication from the government or the company since the meeting on Friday and will be part of a meeting with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) today at 1 pm to develop a strategy on the way forward.
