WORKERS of the Aurora Gold Mines (AGM), owned by Canadian company Guyana Goldfields Inc, are said to have returned to work beginning Friday, following a meeting on Thursday between representatives from the company, representatives for the workers, and officials from the Department of Labour.

Officials from the Department of Labour are scheduled to visit the mines on Monday, while Minister with Responsibility for Labour, Keith Scott, says a union poll will be held to determine if the National Mine Workers Union of Guyana (NMWUG), headed by Sherwayne Downer, can represent the workers.

“We were able to get the parties around the table and all matters that are giving them trouble, we were able to show them how to go about dealing with them. We were able to help them,” explained Scott

“They [the employees] were concerned about their future, because enough communication was not done between the workers and the employer; hence, they had this feeling that their work might have been threatened and they were hearing things.”
The company issued a statement on Friday, noting that the stoppage is not expected to affect production.

“The work stoppage at its Aurora mine that began on July 2 has ended. Employees are starting to return to work in a phased approach to ensure orderliness and full production is anticipated to resume shortly. As a result of the three operational days lost, the company estimates that approximately 22,500 tonnes were not processed. However, full-year production guidance remains unaffected at 145,000-160,000 ounces of gold,” the statement said.

“Personnel are being re-mobilised and the site is ramping back up to normal operations in a phased and safe manner. The company has agreed to a dialogue with employee representatives and government authorities to resolve any outstanding issues in full compliance with Guyanese labour law.”

After reportedly downing tools since Tuesday over a dispute on severance pay, which aggravated an already strained situation between the employees and the company, the workers agreed to return to work, even as the issues are being addressed.

It was in March that the Guyana Goldfields signed a mining agreement with Peruvian company, STRACON, a move that would see mining employees being transferred from being employees of Guyana Goldfields Inc to being employees of STRACON.

The employees are contending that since they are leaving Guyana Goldfields Inc, and starting as new employees of STRACON, they are entitled to severance pay from Guyana Goldfields. The changeover was expected to take effect from July 1, so when that date passed and the employees were still told nothing about their severance payments, despite queries, they became frustrated.

One worker, who asked to remain anonymous, noted that this exacerbated an already tense atmosphere at the mines, where employees are accusing the company of victimisation, among other things.

“They have to pay off the workers and they haven’t done such and they want to move over the workers, so that is one of the things that contributed to the situation. The mine workers want their severance,” he remarked.

He said the employees were told that they have to speak with the mines manager; however, they feel they’re being given a royal run-around as they remain unsure as to who exactly the portfolio is assigned.

“They put them on to a lady, but the lady deny that she’s the mines manager, so really and truly they’ve been lying to the workers, so that’s what caused the heated conversation and the situation. The workers want answers; they want to know who’s in charge of getting them their severance money,” the person noted.

They said the severance is just one of many issues the employees have been facing at the location over the years, and the employees are calling for a union.

“The workers from time to time have been threatened and intimidated by the supervisors, and the company has made a lot of promises to us that haven’t really come through. They would have you doing a lot of unsafe activity and unsafe work and if you don’t want to do it, they would threaten you to give you a dismissal letter or a warning letter, and they would like call you names and stuff like that, so it’s getting really overbearing. It’s time that we get the company unionised,” he said.

The Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board (TUR&CB) requires that a union garner at least 40 per cent of the workers’ votes to be eligible to represent the workers at a particular company or in a particular category. Minister Scott says a poll will be held among the workers and if the NMWUG prevails, that union will have to be recognised by the company.

“They had applied to us at the Trade Union Recognition Board for recognition, after which we will do a poll. If they win that poll by more than 40 per cent, they will be the recognised union for the workers,” Scott said.