Some Labour Union Leaders and Opposition members of the PNCR and the AFC would have the Guyanese people believe that the performance of the results oriented Minister of Labour, the Honourable Manzoor Nadir ought to be appraised on the basis of their assessment of the manner in which he has been handling the Industrial dispute between the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union and the Rusal Subsidiary, the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. In fact, the PNCR’s “no confidence motion” tabled and debated in the National Assembly during its 124th sitting of June 3rd, 2010 suggests not only that the Honourable Minister has not been delivering; but premises this misguided distortion on their flawed deductions based on a single issue: “ the trade dispute between the Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union ( GBGWU) and the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI). How can one draw a logical conclusion or determination based on partial assessment of one event with such a narrow spread?
The Honourable Minister must be congratulated on taking a rational approach and position on the issue as opposed to a mere vocal one. For in fact, sir, while the Union and its political supporters have been involved in verbal bashing and confrontation aimed no doubt at fuelling flames of industrial dissension that they surmised may yet be in the air; the Honourable Minister has been doing what is expected of responsible, experienced Leaders- encouraging dialogue and collaboration at the bilateral level between the two Parties to the Dispute and to the Collective Labour Agreement with the ultimate objective, the expectation and the confidence that this approach would bring closure to the issues that gave rise to the dispute in the first place. For consensus often cannot be reached in one effort and ought to include efforts at rationalization. Furthermore, intervention must not be premature but must be seen as necessary, timely, discretionary and used only as a last resort. Section 4 of Chapter 98:07 of the Trade Union Recognition Act permits the Minister’s intervention ‘if he thinks fit’.
We too of the PPP/C Government want an early resolution of this matter and the Hon. Minister of Labour has been ventilating this position.
In pursuing his responsibilities in the dispute and the dispute resolution process; the Honourable Minister has been mindful of the rights of the workers and has been upholding these rights, and furthermore, has made it clear that the way forward rests in resolving the contradictory issues- one of which is the matter of the over 120 workers in the bargaining unit who have written to the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board on the derecognition of the GB&GWU. This matter is outside of the purview of the Minister and the Government. Perhaps, this is the no confidence that the Opposition should be debating; for it is obvious that many of the workers have lost confidence in the GBGWU and its uninspired leadership.
It cannot be overemphasized that the right to associate with the Union of the workers’choice necessarily implies a corresponding right to disassociate from that Union when it is no longer the one of first choice. Workers have a constitutional right of association and disassociation. The Union has not even written or approached the Ministry of Labour on the issue. This certainly is not representation.
But the Union created this situation-agreeing to a proposal that it determined too late did not serve its interest AND THEREAFTER SEEKING TO SHIFT THE BLAME SO TO SPEAK.
But we of the PPP/C are proud of our long standing support of the working class people and our continuous and intensified efforts to pass legislation to, inter alia, recognize workers rights including the right to be represented by the Union of their choice. We are not about to change that position.

The expansion of the labour portfolio under the Minister’s watch

As pointed out earlier by me, the Honourable Minister of Labour’s portfolio and his performance in that portfolio must not be viewed and assessed on the basis of the Opposition’s determination of the Minister’s handling of an Industrial dispute only. Indeed, the Honourable Minister has, under his watch and in recognition of the fact that the Labour Portfolio must expand to address workers interests and respond to the global challenges of today; broadened and redefined the labour portfolio: so that labour is no longer concerned solely with salary and wage increases which are really short term benefits in nominal terms. Neither is it focused only on industrial disputes but also on matters that extend to the totality of the workers livelihood and that of their families and other Guyanese.

Expanding the Labour Portfolio

And so, the performance of the Ministry of Labour and the Honourable Minister of Labour must be measured also, on the basis of:

a) the occupational health and safety awareness programmes and seminars targeting workers and  the work place inspections to ensure that legally required safety  measures in the factories are in place, and equipment and  machinery are timely and properly serviced in order to reduce the probability of accidents and possible injuries and fatalities. These site visits/inspections have increased significantly from 1031 or an average of 515 per annum from 2005 to 2006 to 9336 or an average of 3112 per annum for the years 2007 to 2009.
These inspections have also included several                  communities that Industrial Inspectors had never visited before

b) from 2000 to 2009 – 3704 persons have graduated
from the Board of Industrial Training. From
2007 to 2009; 2 531 or 68% of the 3704 persons were trained during Minister Nadir’s watch. It must be noted also that the Board of Industrial Training has moved from a $11M subvention Agency in 2006 to a $140M Agency providing training for youths and women in particular.
c)   The placement of persons registered for employment has also seen a record setting improvement in performance.

Av. registration per annum
2000-6        1600
2007-9        2469

Av. Placement per annum
2000-6        1131
2007-9        1709

d) The Ministry of Labour has also been able under Minister Nadir’s watch to attract over $1M US for its HIV/AIDS Workplace Programmes that targeted workplaces and workers all over Guyana. In fact, the Hon Minister in whom the Opposition expresses a lack of confidence has been the lead Player in the formulation and adoption of a National HIV and AIDS Workplace policy.
The Honourable Minister and his Ministry’s efforts to deal with HIV/AIDS education and awareness in the workplace and the successes in reaching out to thousands of Guyanese, including marginalized groups across Guyana; have resulted in Guyana being selected by the ILO as one of the outstanding countries to be in Austria (ILO pays all expenses) for an HIV /AIDS International Conference to be held from July 18-23 in Vienna.
* Minister Nadir’s contribution at the OAS (Organisation of American States) Ministers of Labour Conferences from 2007 to 2009 have also been recognized by his Caribbean Peers and the OAS. The Honourable Minister was elected Vice Chairman of one of the working Groups along with Mexico in 2007 and reelected in 2009.
* His ongoing efforts to revitalize Cooperatives and Friendly Societies to improve their management and be accountable to the membership have also been noted.
I mention these additional Portfolios to give recognition to the fact that the record of
the performance of all the Departments under the Minister of Labour, the Honourable Manzoor Nadir : including the Labour Department, the Board of Industrial Training, the Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency has been exemplary. I mention these also since the motion questions the competence of the Hon. Minister and by extension the PPP/C Government and seeks to assess that competence based on an examination of only one of the several portfolios held by the Minister.

In conclusion, let me remind all that the theme of this year’s Labour Day is “responding to global challenges through Trade Union initiatives and solidarity”. Not by bullyism and mouthing and certainly, not by raising false hopes and creating industrial dissension; not by seeking to shift blame; but by recognizing and accepting that each industrial dispute must be treated on its own merit. A check of the records shows a continual and intensive process of regular engagements between Union and the Company over the period following the signing of the Collective Labour Agreement on April 4th 2008. And notwithstanding the Company’s public repudiation of the CLA based on allegations by the Company of serious breaches of the CLA by the Union. And let it be known that the Ministry of Labour has reaffirmed to the Company that the GB&GWU is still the recognized Union for that bargaining unit. No amount of fillbustering or sanctioning of illegal strikes or blame game by the Union would resolve the impasse. Negotiation, compromise and industrial diplomacy are better options in the present national and global economic climate. Unions need to find better ways to negotiate. The Union needs to put its house in order for it too is subject to the Law.
Meanwhile, our Minister of Labour continues to reassure the Parties of his Ministry’s and Government’s support for the process.
I call on the Opposition Political Parties to be rational and objective and work with the Honourable Minister of Labour to move this matter forward for I have the confidence that our Minister is moving along the right road and on the right side.