THE Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) is of the view that the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) is displaying “frontal and unrelenting aggression” in the way it is dealing with Guyanese workers and their rights.A GB&GWU statement released to the media on Tuesday has said that the BCGI’s latest move of instructing workers to sign a document addressed to the Government and stating that the BCGI workers do not want GBGWU as their representative union constitutes the “deepening of aggression” against workers and continued attempts to violate the Constitution of Guyana, thereby posing a threat to the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Constitution is sacrosanct. The pleas of Guyanese workers employed at BCGI — to have their right to be associated with a trade union of their choice and collective bargaining conducted on their behalf — is consistent with Article 147 of the Constitution and Section 23 (1) of the Trade Union Recognition Act, the statement added.

Section 23 (1) of the Act states: “Where a trade union obtains a certificate of recognition for workers comprised in a bargaining unit in accordance with this Part, the employer shall recognize the union, and the union and the employer shall bargain in good faith and enter into negotiations with each other for the purpose of collective bargaining.”

Further, section 23 (3) states that: “An employer who fails to comply with the provisions of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and (be) liable on summary conviction to (pay) a fine of twenty thousand dollars, and in addition a fine of five hundred dollars for every five days the breach continues, until the employer has complied with such provisions.”

And while the union is accusing the company of being liable in regard to the foregoing, it is viewing the issue in a broader context. According to BG&BWU, when external foreign forces recognize Government’s unwillingness to uphold the nation’s Constitution, which safeguards the country and its people, these foreign forces become more emboldened in their claims to parts of Guyana.

BCGI is co-owned by the Russia Aluminum (RUSAL) company and the Government of Guyana. RUSAL owns a 90% stake in the company, while the Guyana Government owns the remaining 10%.

“What we are seeing at BCGI is frontal and unrelenting aggression by foreign management in the abuse of our workers, the citizens, and communities in the Upper Berbice River, where this company operates as though this area is annexed from Guyana, and the environment and people [are] no longer protected by the Laws of Guyana”, the union charges.

GB&GWU has indicated that labour is deeply concerned and troubled by Government’s refusal to uphold the ruling of the court, which would ensure that workers’ rights are upheld and employers discharge their responsibilities. It also questioned if this is a case where the trade union movement is seen as a threat and this is the Government’s way of “undermining” labour; the same labour that is needed to protect and defend Guyana.

“Bauxite workers have been supportive of the parties in this Government in and out of office. Yet, their rights continue to be transgressed by RUSAL – a presumptuous foreign entity,” GBGWU has declared. The union also noted that the gains workers enjoy today were fought for, and were not willingly conceded by any employer.

The union is informing the BCGI workers that BCGI could not have their best interest at heart when that company is calling on workers to “dismantle their choice of union.”

“We encourage labour to continue not to lose faith in their numbers, because when we speak in one voice and unite, whether to hold Government or private employer accountable, it is our collective will that gives us our strength. When any employer seeks to undermine the trade union, it is not to operate in the interest of workers.

“BCGI can only become emboldened in a weak environment and where weak leadership exists,” the GB&GWU statement added.

In March of last year, the Guyana Trades Union Congress expressed its dissatisfaction with BCGI, noting that it had been five years and counting since the company took a decision to flagrantly disrespect the Labour Laws of Guyana. And while this issue is not a new one, the GTUC contended that successive PPP Governments had failed to address the issue, and in some cases gave legitimacy to the BCGI disregard of the Guyana Constitution.