Conservancy workers threaten strike over retro payments
Workers of the East Demerara Water Conversancy (EDWC) on the picket line on Thursday (Adrian Narine photo)
Workers of the East Demerara Water Conversancy (EDWC) on the picket line on Thursday (Adrian Narine photo)

WORKERS of the East Demerara Water Conversancy (EDWC) picketed the Agriculture Ministry as their union, the General Workers’ Union (GWU), called for the Ministry of Social Protection Department of Labour to intervene to avert industrial action against the management of the Conservancy over millions of dollars owed to them.

According to the workers, the Management of the East Demerara Water Conservancy owes them in excess of $12M in retroactive payments dating back to 2012. Approximately 30 workers are awaiting payment.

GWU President Norris Witter

As they protested at the Agriculture Ministry on Regent Street, Georgetown, the workers received the strong backing of their union with the GWU president Norris Witter threatening to “up the ante” if the issues placed on the table are not addressed.
Putting the issue into prospective, Witter explained that days after the workers protested, the Agriculture Ministry on July 4, 2017, the Board of Directors overseeing the management of the Conservancy invited the workers’ representatives to a meeting where a number of issues were discussed.

“Those concerns had to do with outstanding retroactive payments dating back to 2012, outstanding payments for other allowances dating back to 2012 and the non-response by the management to our draft collective bargaining agreement,” the GWU president explained.

It was noted that for 15 years, the management of the Conservancy and the union have been unable to conclude a collective bargaining agreement, although several attempts have been made by the latter to rectify the situation.
“I am saying that there has not been a renewal of the collective bargaining agreement for the East Demerara Water Conservancy for over 15 years. It is a shameful and disgusting situation,” Witter stated.

The GWU president said although the board and management of the Conservancy committed to respond to the workers’ concerns following the July 12, 2017 meeting, it did so, months after an ultimatum was given by the union on January 26, 2018.

“It was not until January 26, 2018, more than six months after, when we sent the management an ultimatum indicating our intention to proceed on appropriate industrial action, that the management responded three months after saying that the issues that we raised at the level of the board were more comprehensive that they thought and therefore it has taken them more time that they envisage to have the matters addressed,” Witter explained.

For the union and the workers, enough is enough! Strapped with their placards, the workers backed the GWU president as he called on the Social Protection Ministry Department of Labour to intervene.

“This action I would consider it to be a moderate action but we are saying very clearly that we have lost confidence in the management of the East Demerara Water Conservancy to address these matters and therefore we want to use this forum to call on the Ministry of Social Protection Labour Department to intervene through conciliation with a view of having this matter resolved,” Witter said.

He warned that if these longstanding issues are not swiftly addressed, the workers with the full support of the union will up the ante.
“If this issue is not resolved speedily as we expect it to be, through the intervention of the Ministry of Social Protection Labour Department, and whoever has authority to bring closure to these issues, we are going to up the ante. We are going to move from the activity of a protest to one of a strike, and if we are forced to take strike action, then God knows how long it will last, we don’t want to do that, we are a responsible union.”

He said while the union is not uncaring, the rights of the workers who are generally poor ought to be respected. The issues, he lamented, have been dragged on for far too long, and the workers are growing tired of the delay tactics being employed by the management and the board of the East Demerara Water Conservancy.

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