DETERMINED employees of the Russian-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) continue to assiduously preserve their barrier across a section of the Berbice River, and are eagerly awaiting the election results to pave the way for government’s intervention.
It is now two months since BCGI, owned by aluminum giant RUSAL, first laid off a batch of employees on January 24 and the employees responded by blocking the river.
Since then, the employees have been vigilantly guarding the blockage at Landernsville, to obstruct the company from shipping out materials or equipment from its Kurubuka Mines in Region 10.
Notwithstanding their determination to see the situation through, it’s has not been easy for the group maintaining the blockage.
“We are sleeping in hammock, on tables and bench by the river corners now two months and change, and yet nothing has been done as yet. We know the situation but things are rough here. You have to leave your family and be away so long it’s very rough,” Leandre Clarke, an employee, told the Guyana Chronicle as he described of the situation.
The employees see the blockade as their only leverage in making the company pay attention to their grievances. In original demands issued through their union, the employees called for the re-hiring of employees; the addressing of compensation for two employees who suffered electric shocks while on duty in December 2019 and increases in wages and salaries.
The employees are remaining optimistic in their hopes.
“Things ‘lil’ tight but we still have good faith and we’re working together. Is not everybody is here, but the people are here holding down the fort,” Clarke said.
Earlier in February the employees had even defended their blockage against confrontation with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) when police officers had descended on the area. The relentless employees said their protest was peaceful and they did not harm anyone. The police presence was eventually removed.
The employees see their situation as all part of their fight to ensure that they stand up for their rights.
“We are in good spirits. We have to be like that, we can’t give up. It’s a struggle and a fight, we have to fight for our rights. We cook every day, and we even share our meals with the members of community, because they have been a part of the fight too,” shared Garfield Brutus, an employee and Branch Vice-President of the employees union, Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union (GB&GWU).
Brutus appealed to private citizens and businesses to come on board and lend assistance if possible.
“We would like some more support from foodstuff and so on. Because we are not working, we would glad if other entities could come on board, meet with us and talk with us in a group. Meet the workers plus members of the community and make our voice be heard a little more,” Brutus said.
After initially laying off 288 employees, BCGI officially terminated 326 employees on February 2 and suspended operations at the mines.
The company has since sent a shipment of equipment out of the country, lending to allegations by employees that the company is closing down entirely. Government officials, however, including Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, have said that the company gave no official indication of plans to shut down.
The government, through the Department of Labour and Ministry of Social Protection, has engaged the executives of RUSAL over the situation with the employees since it began.
They have been lobbying the company for rehiring of the employees, while the Labour Department has been investigating benefit payments made to the employees who were terminated.
Efforts made to contact Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle for an update on that situation proved futile.
The situation however has somewhat been impeded as Guyana is currently awaiting declarations of the results for the March 2 General and Regional Elections by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
“We are anxious for this thing to resolve, but the problem is the political situation right now and so we can’t do nothing until that fix. We’re waiting on the elections because without a new government nothing won’t happen. So we’re at a standstill, just maintaining the blockage at the river,” Brutus explained.
RUSAL owns 90 per cent of BCGI, while the other 10 per cent is government- owned, administered by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL).
Head of NICIL Colvin Heath-London, recently shared that NICIL had initiated engagement with RUSAL over dividends owed, if any. Heath-London said that to the best of his knowledge no dividends has been handed over to the government during RUSAL’s time here.
On Sunday, Heath-London told the Guyana Chronicle that meetings with RUSAL have been placed on hold, pending the installation of a new government.
Being a shareholder in BCGI, NICIL last month took the initiative to pay the fired employees their February salaries as the dividends negotiations continued. BCGI was established in 2004; however, RUSAL took it over in 2006 after acquiring the assets of Aroaima Mining Company from the government.
Relations between the company and its employees have been strained since 2009, when the company terminated over 50 employees and refused to recognise the union.
Efforts made to contact GBGWU General-Secretary Lincoln Lewis for a comment, were unsuccessful.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_e-paper_3-23-2020