By Clifford Stanley
WORKERS of Oldendorff Carriers (Guyana) Incorporated (OCGI), the company contracted by the Russian Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) to trans-ship bauxite from mines along the Berbice River, will soon benefit from trade union representation after a hiatus of four years.This “much-anticipated development” was reported to Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection Simona Broomes during a meeting with top officials of the company at its office on Esplanade Road, New Amsterdam, Berbice, Friday last.
Marlon Jaundoo, OCGI Senior Finance and Administrative Manager, said that all of the clauses in a Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) with the union of the workers’ choice, except one relating to arbitration, had been agreed by both parties.

NO MAJOR OBSTACLE
He said he did not see the impasse over the arbitration clause as a major obstacle to the signing of a CLA by early next month.
OCGI provides employment for a large number of Guyanese. The union which will be providing services to the many workers  who have been without representation since 2011, is the People United and General Workers Union (PUGWU).
As recently as June last, officials of that union had alleged that the company employs a large number of Guyanese workers on short-term contracts, ranging from one, three and six months, and that even after many years of service, many are still not permanently employed.
According to PUGWU General Secretary Micah Williams, OCGI was using employment contracts and the casual classification as a mechanism through which to rob Guyanese workers of their benefits, and tamper with their welfare.

NO GUARANTEES
The OCGI short-term contract does not guarantee any long-term employment. The contracts contain clauses that provide for OCGI to terminate workers’ employment at any time without any reason being given, and as such, the contract does not guarantee job security.
The union, in its generally agreed draft CLA, provides for all workers to be permanently employed after serving a three-month probationary period, with satisfactory performance.
Last Friday, Minister Broomes said she was eager for the signing of the CLA to become a reality.

A WELCOME DEVELOPMENT
Her ministry, she noted, had played a major role in pushing the process forward, and the much-anticipated signing would be a welcome development, not only for the ministry but for all at the company, particularly the workers.
In January 2006, Oldendorff Carriers commenced operations in Guyana under an 11-year contract with one of the carrier’s long-term customers, RUSAL, via its affiliate, Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc.
The contract consists of a one-year period in which an intermediate transloading solution was in place, and a 10-year period, where the operation forms a complete logistics solution facilitating barging, offshore loading and ocean transportation of around two to two-and-a-half million tonnes per annum of bauxite from  mines located some 131 nautical miles up the Berbice River.