THE Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) is still to respond to a letter from Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle, addressed to the acting General Secretary of the union Deborah Murphy, in which he deemed the strike action taken by the workers of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) as illegal.

On Monday January 12, 2015, Ogle wrote to the acting General Secretary of the union stating, among other things, that after reviewing correspondence between the union and the GGMC: “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.”
The union has since ignored the call by the Chief Labour Officer to have the workers return to work and has continued their strike action.
Senior Industrial Relations Officer of the union, Denis English yesterday assured that the union is steadfast in its actions and a comprehensive reply to Ogle’s letter is being prepared and is expected to be delivered today.

Meanwhile, yesterday National Association of Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) General Secretary Kenneth Joseph issued a press release supporting the workers and the actions taken by the GPSU, as they “are still in struggle for a better life for workers.”

Joseph, referring to Ogle’s letter to the GPSU said: “It is very serious when the trade unions of this country observe the denial of important workers’ rights in silence. I say this to advise the Chief Labour Officer, Mr. Charles Ogle that there are legal and illegal strikes according to legal luminaries. This strike, however, is not defined as illegal because it is one of the attempts to pressure the employers of the GGMC to concede to the demand for improvement in wages benefit and work rules.”

The Management of the GGMC in a press release issued on January 6 had said that the strike was called at a time when negotiations were in progress to resolve the wages issue.
The release stated: “The Commission has reiterated the need to abide by the standing agreement between the Guyana Public Service Union and the Commission for the Recognition and Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes, which clearly identifies the steps to be taken to resolve the current issues. Deviations from these enshrined protocols can be construed as acts of bad faith, more so given that discussions and engagements were on-going between the union and the commission.”

The union on the other hand has insisted that the Terms of Resumption signed between the two parties after the strike in November has given them the option to renew their industrial action if their issues were not addressed by the end of December.

The Chief Labour Officer, however, has pointed out that the Collective Labour Agreement between the two parties’ 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 intent and purpose, 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 had said.

Efforts to get a comment from the Chief Labour Officer on the way forward, given that the workers have not resumed duties following his letter to the union, has proved futile as he has said that he will not be speaking to the media.

(By Raymon Cummings)