WORKERS of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) who, last Tuesday, commenced strike action at the instigation of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) will be forced to resume work even though no resolution has been reached between the two parties.

Chief Labour Officer (CLO) Mr Charles Ogle, in a strongly-worded letter addressed to acting General Secretary of the GPSU Ms Deborah Murphy and copied to Permanent Secretary of the Natural Resources Ministry, Mr Joslyn McKenzie, and GGMC Deputy Commissioner (Technical) Mr. Newell Dennisson, on Monday urged that the Union take all necessary steps to immediately end the strike.
The Chief Labour Officer had told the Chronicle last Tuesday that following the strike action taken by the workers on January 6, the management of the GGMC had written his agency; and that, as mandated, his agency would conduct a full investigation into the circumstances that led to the strike with a view to resolving the dispute.

In the letter addressed to Ms Debra Murphy, Ogle stated that after carefully studying the correspondences between the union and the Commission, the existing Collective Labour Agreement between the two parties and certain media reports attributed to representatives and/or agents of the GPSU, the Labour Ministry had concluded that “the current industrial action may not be in accord with known and acceptable principles of good labour-management relations.”

The Chief Labour Officer further reminded that, at last Friday’s meeting between the union and the GGMC which he had chaired, the union had been urged to take immediate steps to have the strike called off, a request which had seemingly not found favour with the union.

Ogle stated that, at the meeting, the union representatives had insisted that the strike would not be called off unless a “favourable offer” was made by the management of the GGMC to the workers. This position was confirmed as strike action was resumed on Monday morning.

The Labour Official, supporting the claim made by the Commission in a press release issued last Tuesday deeming the strike illegal, stated: “I wish to reiterate that an examination of all the facts and details known to this Ministry suggest that your Union’s decision to take strike action effective 6th January, 2015 may be in breach of the extant Collective Labour Agreement and would therefore be illegal. In the circumstances, you are hereby requested to take the necessary steps to ensure that the strike is called off with immediate effect, thereby paving the way for a return of normalcy in negotiations.”

Further supporting his conclusion, the Chief Labour Officer pointed to the Collective Labour Agreement between the two parties, which states that after a joint meeting /conference, an unresolved dispute may be referred to conciliation and then arbitration, if necessary.

“I must say that as far as I am aware, this Ministry is not in receipt of any such application, which for all intents and purposes, must preface any contemplated industrial action. As a matter of fact, I do believe that Clause 12 of the aforementioned extant Collective Labour Agreement prohibits withdrawal of labour during the negotiation process, which prohibition was disregarded,” Ogle said.

GPSU Assistant Industrial Relations Officer, Jermaine Hermonstine confirmed on Monday that a meeting was held between the two parties on Friday last. He, however, insisted that the Terms of Resumption which the two parties had signed in November 2014 to address the current issues had stated that the union had a right to review its position after one month, and it was on that basis that the union had resumed strike action.

He was adamant that the workers would remain on strike until the management of GGMC had forwarded a favourable proposal. Efforts to contact officials of the union following issuance of the Labour Ministry’s letter proved futile.