31 May, 2010
The Guyana Bauxite & General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU) is seeking corrective measures by the government of the South American nation in order to continue representing 500 miners of the Bauxite Co. of Guyana Inc. (BCGI), which is 90% controlled by the Russian metals company RusAl.
Following six months of intense struggle, which crested in December 2009 when RusAl unilaterally withdrew recognition of the union at the Aroaima and Kwakwani bauxite mines in contradiction to Guyanese labour law, GB&GWU finally got a hearing last week, on 25 May, before Guyana’s Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board.
But that hearing proved inconclusive, with the union seeking remedial action by the Labour Ministry before a ballot is put before miners on whether or not they want to retain the longstanding union. Fifty-seven GB&GWU activists remain sacked after they led a strike on 22 November 2009.
GB&GWU picketed the offices of Labour Minister Mansoor Nadir on 4 and 5 February
The union wants redress for the Labour Minister refusing to act or to conduct an investigation that followed the end of the strike. BCGI prepared a de-authorization petition and coerced workers into signing it, denouncing the GB&GWU. In April, it surfaced that BCGI management at both Aroaima and Kwakwani conspired to organise a workers’ committee for a rival union, one connected with the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) in Guyana. (The GB&GWU has been traditionally aligned with the opposition People’s National Congress Reform, PNCR).
“What we are asking,” said GB&GWU Secretary-General Lincoln Lewis, “is that the laws of the country be upheld before any ballot at BCGI is held. That means that BCGI’s one-sided de-authorization be addressed, victimization of union leaders be addressed, the illegal firings be heard, and its blatant interference over freedom of association rights be addressed.
“Now, that has not happened. We cannot enter a ballot until these complaints are answered. If we do, it opens an unwanted precedent for any union in Guyana – no matter the political alignment – for both national laws and international labour standards to be ignored in undermining a legitimate union.”
GB&GWU Secretary-General Lincoln Lewis
The dispute is now highly politically charged with PNCR representatives in the National Assembly bringing a no-confidence motion on Labour, Human Services, and Social Security Minister Mansoor Nadir inside the Legislature. The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy has called for his resignation.
The labour dispute initially started in wage negotiations last November. BCGI submitted three proposals and asked miners to vote and accept one. When they accepted the one least desirable to BCGI, managers began meeting with groups of workers to convince them to change their position. For those who stood by the democratic vote, management made it known they would be the first terminated.
Management’s bullishness, thus, caused the strike, a strike in which BCGI terminated union leaders, withdrew recognition, and subsequently has tried to introduce another union. The ICEM did intervene with the Guyanese government, but received only a curt reply that all laws and procedures are being adhered to. The ICEM will continue to stand by the GB&GWU until full justice prevails.