SASE Shewnarain, owner of the Aracari Resort at Versailles, West Bank Demerara, has been charged by the Department of Labour for breaching several labour laws after he dismissed a security guard at the facility allegedly for refusing to chase dogs out of the resort’s compound.He is challenging the grounds on which he has been charged, and has since written President David Granger and a slew of other top executives in the administration on the issue.

The charges against Shewnarain are: Failure to pay sum in lieu of termination; failure to produce records requested; failure to grant leave with pay; failure to give notice of termination; and failure to pay overtime.
SHEWNARAIN’S POSITION
In his letter to President Granger, Shewnarain said he was extremely disappointed in the conduct and behaviour of the Labour Officer who handled the case. Regarding that official’s behaviour, Shewnarain pointed out: “You did not care to assemble information/facts before arriving at conclusions. You appear to have already decided that you knew everything before leaving your office.

“You tried to tell me that you knew better than me why I changed the rate of pay from $202 per hour to $255 per hour for security staff. Without listening to anything I had to say, and with total disregard to the facts, you proceeded to tell me that I must pay Mr. Oodhaw vacation pay and overtime pay. Your position is that I must be lying. I could read from your body language that you couldn’t care less about what the facts are; it’s either your way or the highway. The fact that you had already written up the charges speaks volumes with regard to your approach and attitude.

“Bottom line: In my opinion, you are a racist, and you seem to be confident that you have the strength of the Government of Guyana to support you in your racism. Your follow-up visit today further confirms my assessment of you. Despite knowing that I have an open-door policy and you could come and meet me, you met only with my Manager, Shanta Ranglall.

“What is disturbing is that you have now expanded your investigation in other areas, including: Accident log; fire extinguishers; first aid and others.”

Shewnarain’s note to the President further states: “There is something fundamentally wrong when we have ministers who, for whatever reason, are unwilling to look at all the facts, and are willing to shoot from the hip.”
NO QUARREL
Shewnarain said he does not have any quarrel with anyone looking into these things, “but when a complaint from a staff about pay is expanded in this manner, (it) is how you define persecution. The question that now arises (is): What will be next?” The resort owner said: “This type of behaviour is not conducive to investment and creation of employment; it can only sow ethnic discord in this country. This kind of behaviour must not be allowed to take root.”

He continued: “On the matter of the employment of Mr. Katwaru Oodhow, I wish to advise as follows: Mr. Oodhow is employed as a security guard. He is stationed at the security hut which controls the only entrance and exit from the Aracari Resort Compound.” Shewnarain said entrance to the Aracari Resort compound is controlled by a security barrier, which the security staff raises and lowers for the passage of vehicular traffic.

“This function is usually manned by two members of staff. Stray animals can only enter the compound by running/walking under the barrier.”

He said there were many discussions on the presence of stray animals in the compound, affecting the quality of our service being offered by the resort. Discussions were held with all security staff, and it was clearly agreed and understood that this is a security staff responsibility. (An alert security staff with normal eyesight would be able to see stray animals from a distance, and should be able to prevent them from entering).

Shewnarain recalled that on June 30, 2014, at about 3 pm, “I observed a dog leisurely entering the compound through the security gate. There were two security staff on duty. I phoned the security hut and spoke to Mr. Oodhow. I pointed out to him that if he should look outside he would see a dog running down the road past the security hut; if he can please go and get the dog out of the compound. His response was that he just came on duty and I should talk to the next guard, and he immediately handed the phone over to the next guard. I spoke to the next guard, who promised to get the stray dog out of the compound. I asked to speak back to Mr. Oodhow; Mr. Oodhow refused to take my call.”

Shewnarain said the next day he spoke to the Security Lead Hand and reviewed the work schedule. “Mr Oodhow had a day off, and was returning to work on July 2. I asked that he be notified that he has been suspended for one week. On his return, he must see me before starting on his next scheduled shift.”

Shewnarain said he was advised that “when Oodhow was told that he has to report to me before the start of his next scheduled shift, he returned his uniform. I have not been advised that he has attempted to report for duty since.

“In my humble opinion, Mr. Oodhow has voluntarily terminated his services with Aracari Resort, and as such he is only entitled to be paid until the last day he worked,” Shewnarain charged.

Shewnarain added that Oodhow’s employment started at Aracari Resort from October 20, 2014, with his rate of pay being $202 per hour. Work was scheduled in 8-hour shifts. Scheduled work over 40 hours, if incurred between Monday to Saturday and not on public holidays, was paid at time and a half. Sundays and public holiday hours is at double time. We re-organized the security function and decided to reduce our payroll costs by limiting the number of staff on each shift, and also limiting each staff to 40 scheduled hours per week. This would reduce our total costs, including our overtime costs. However, the implications were that those staff who did not work on Sundays or public holidays would be at an income disadvantage. I held detailed discussions with the Security Staff to work out a fair and equitable way to distribute overtime pay among all staff. Five security staff were in attendance, which included Mr. Oodhow.

Still on staff since that meeting are Mr. Shaheid Ally and Mr. Martin Persaud. Shewnarain said it was agreed that “we should move to a flat rate that represents a composite of: hourly rate of $202 per hour; vacation entitlement on a per-hour basis (this came under discussion because of the transient nature of local staff, who, after a short time, disappear and never follow up for vacation pay compensation) equitable distribution of overtime pay among the staff.

“As a result of this process, security staff agreed to a flat rate of $255 per hour.”

MINISTER RESPONDS
However, Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes, has allegedly said that the remark about racial implications is directed at “me personally, and I will only state that delinquent employers will find my approach discomforting.

“It is no secret that since my appointment as Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, I have sought to focus the Ministry’s attention on addressing long outstanding issues in the labour relations process. This, in some instances, is (a) challenging, even imposing task.”

She said the Ministry is in the process of investigating workers’ complaints made against the resort, and has noted that various officers of the Ministry have been involved in this process.

Minister Broomes has reportedly told Stabroek News that “the importance in this particular case is not the charges, but the level of exploitation that workers face”. She reportedly said that since taking office in May, she has been noticing a man averaged to be in his 50s frequently visiting the ministry. The man was later identified as “Oadhow Katwaru, an employee of the Aracari Resort at Versailles, West Bank Demerara, who had been fired.”

According to the Stabroek News, Minister Broomes said that acting on the man’s complaint, the employer was contacted. The employer sent a witness to a scheduled meeting early last week, who stated that Katwaru’s behaviour was disrespectful to Shewnarain. It was only after the minister had enquired, the newspaper said, that she learnt that Oodhow had been dismissed because he had refused to chase dogs out of the compound of the resort.

“There have been instances in which Mr Shewnarain’s attitude to these investigations has been decidedly unhelpful, she said. According to the minister, “up to this time, and despite written communication from this Ministry to Mr Shewnarain dated July 13th, 2015, and subsequent requests by telephone inviting him to a meeting to discuss the issue, he has failed to put in an appearance.

“Indeed, it was only after my specific intervention that he sent a representative rather than attend himself.

“I must stress that the matters against the Aracari Resort have been investigated fully and to my satisfaction. Arising out of that process, legal action has been taken against the entity,” Minister Broomes has said.