…Nadir unable to confirm whether he was dismissed
WORKERS of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI) have lodged a complaint with the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) that, on Sunday May 8, the company’s General Manager Mr. Ruslan Volokhov, said to be carrying a spade in his hand, allegedly threatened “to bash their heads and faces then bury them.” According to a press release from the GTUC, the manager made the threat to the workers when they were in the company’s bus at the campsite.

“We call on BCGI to sanction his actions, and call on the Government of Guyana to sanction BCGI to protect the rights of Guyanese labour,” the release from GTUC said.

When this newspaper contacted Minister of Labour Mr. Manzoor Nadir yesterday, he was unable to confirm whether or not the general manager of the bauxite entity had, indeed, been fired as was reported in another section of the media.

The GTUC said that on investigating the matter, the workers advised that the threat was sparked from their inability to attend work on time on May 8 “since there was no water to shower because the pump at the site was cut off, due to some problem, and supply did not return until approximately 9:00 am on Sunday, May 8.”

According to the GTUC, the fact that the company failed to ensure there was water supply, from the afternoon of Saturday, May 7 to approximately 9:00 hrs on Sunday, May 8 for workers to adhere to personal hygiene was of no concern to the general manager.

The GTUC said it was “very disturbed” by this new development and threat to the workers of this country.

“This is not plantation slavery for the general manager to dare to think he can come to this sovereign country to violate workers like this. For him being given the courtesy to come and exploit our natural resources and to dare to think the exploitation of our natural resources is equal to the exploitation of our manpower and laws, and the violations of the citizens’ rights and dignity we find totally unacceptable,” the GTUC declared.

“That the general manager can approach his fellow human being, Guyanese workers, with a spade and think it is acceptable to threaten to beat and bury…this has to be one of the worst affronts to labour in modern times,” the GTUC release said.

According to the union, this general manager is known to visit the mines under the influence of alcohol, “behaving drunk and disorderly.”

“The GTUC is therefore calling on the Government of Guyana and the People of Guyana to let this General Manager know his behaviour is reprehensible and will not be tolerated in this society,” it added.