RUSAL's dismissal of bauxite workers for arbitration

Three years after 62 workers were dismissed by the local subsidiary of Russian Aluminium (RUSAL) and a senior company official had allegedly threatened to assault workers, the Guyana government has decided to take the dispute to arbitration.

President of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GBGWU), Leslie Gonsalves told Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com) that union officials would later this week discuss its nominees for the panel before submitting them.

“We have to get a say on who the panellists should be. We have some names but we haven’t finalized them to submit,” said Gonsalves. The union said it wanted the composition and modalities of the panel to be fast-tracked. “GB&GWU will push for this to be achieved soonest since justice delayed is justice denied,” said the union. Other union officials, however, say much depends on whether it will be one arbiter or a panel.

Government has not officially announced its decision to invoke arbitration in the bitter quarrel that had seen the union rallying local and international solidarity in condemning RUSAL. The union had also accused government of foot-dragging in addressing the plight of the workers because of an apparent cosy relationship between the then Bharrat Jagdeo administration and RUSAL whose local subsidiary is the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI).

GBGWU and BCGI-RUSAL were February 29 informed by Labour Minister, Dr. Nanda Kishore Gopaul that he has decided to take the dispute to arbitration.

“Though the battle has been long, gruelling and still more distance to cover, the union remains confident bauxite workers shall overcome. For there shall be no relenting or retreating until the named matters are resolved, the country’s laws upheld, and the rights of every worker respected,” the union said in a statement.

The five-point term of reference mandates the arbitrators 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.”

The issues are:

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 protested 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.”

The GBGWU took credit for the Labour Minister’s decision, saying that it “has to be seen as testimony of the workers resilience that anything worth having is worth fighting for.”

“This new development coming after a valiant two and a half year struggle is benefit derived by the workers militancy and fight for their right to Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining as enshrined in the ILO (International Labour Organisation) Conventions and the Laws of Guyana. These were and will remain the instruments guiding the struggle,” said the union.

Calling the two-year struggle “the dark period”, GBGWU said it received solidarity from, among others, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) regional and international unions and organizations, UK based Labour Start, political parties, media, non-Guyanese and Guyanese from all walks of life.

“The union remains deeply appreciative for the part persons played and continue to play for justice and fair play.

This was not only a struggle for bauxite workers; it was a struggle for Guyana and every Guyanese because BCGI/RUSAL behaviours threaten our laws, the citizens’ rights, and the nation’s sovereignty,” said the union.