Just over a month after a labour dispute erupted at the Russian-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI), the standoff has come to an end with the firm agreeing to reinstate 61 sacked workers and negotiate a new Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) with the workers’ union.
With the signing of an agreement between RUSAL-owned BCGI and the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU) yesterday, full operations are expected to restart soon. In a statement, RUSAL said that the agreement states that the workers will remove all obstacles across the Berbice river so as to allow vessels to resume navigation up and down the waterway, they will return to work and BCGI will reemploy all 61 dismissed workers.
“The agreement further outlines that within fourteen days of the full resumption of work, the parties will commence negotiation of a new collective labour agreement. This will be referred to in case of any further disputes, which may occur in the future,” the statement said.
