I wish first of all to point out to the Minister of Labour, Mr. Manzoor Nadir that this subject of the Trade Union Recognition Act was engaging the attention of the Guyana Trade Union Congress GTYC) for a number of years, and upon the urging of that body for the enactment of the Bill, two tripartite committees were set up by R. Ali-Khan Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security.
At the last meeting on 22nd August 1991 a consensus was reached that the Trade Union Recognition Bill, 1991, should be presented to Parliament before 30th September 1991 and those amendments which were made to the draft by the Minister. In fact the then General Secretary of the GTUC, Mr.  Joseph H. Pollydore, C.C.H., O.R., remarked that, “any changes to the draft would be at the discretion of the then minister.” Consensus was also reached on all provisions of the Bill except the issue of the percentage support of workers within a bargaining unit which a trade union should have before being granted a certificate of recognition.
A final discussion was not held before the Bill was submitted to Parliament because of the short time it was received from the Attorney General’s Chambers before such submission. Its vetting by the A.G’s Chambers was delayed as a result of that office volume of work. Section 31, in part 111 provides protection for long-standing unions, in that the Board shall issue certificates of recognition to those unions which were treated as recognised majority unions before the commencement of the Act. Protection against anti-union employers is provided for by section 23, which provides for compulsory recognition and the duty to treat, and section 26, which provides for offences by employers.
Section 20 and 21,which requires trade unions to have at least 40% support of the workers within a bargaining unit before being certified as the recognised majority unions, protect against fragmentation of the bargaining unit, while at the same time, protect trade unions’ rights to organise and the workers’ rights to freedom of association.
As a former Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) Field Secretary, I am gravely concerned over the protection of the certification and recognition of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers’ Union ( GB&GWU ) and the Rusal subsidiary, the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc.( BCGI) whom I deem is anti-union.