DISMISSED workers of the Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL), along with officials of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), on Friday picketed the Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP) as calls intensify for Government to intervene and have their dismissals reversed.Eleven workers were dismissed for picketing outside of DTL’s head office on October 3 in a call on the company to engage in bona fide bargaining with GAWU. The workers were fired the next day (October 4) after picketing for an increase in their wages and salaries.

Workers’ salaries were last increased in 2014, and bilateral negotiations between the union and the company reached a stalemate on November 17, 2015 after the company failed to approve any increase in wages and salaries for its workers; offering a Christmas Bonus of only $5,000 to each worker after informing them that the company’s financial state prevented it from offering an increase.

“This is the first time in history that an entity, private or public, has taken such a decision of such an incredulous nature,” a GAWU statement said on Friday. GAWU has also said that DTL’s action is reflective of the company’s anti-worker and anti-union position, and can be likened to denying workers their right to picket peacefully.

“In seeking an amicable solution, our Union has sought the conciliatory services of the Ministry of Social Protection to address the dispute. Attempts to this end by the Ministry, however, have been strongly rebuffed by the Company, as it bluntly refused to attend any meeting summoned by the Ministry to address the matter,” the GAWU press statement said.

The Union says it deems DTL’s response to the Ministry of Social Protection’s efforts as nothing short of “blatant disrespect” for the Ministry and the aggrieved workers.

“Our Union strongly urges the Ministry (Government) to uphold its authority and, therefore, ensure that the foreign-owned Company respects the laws of our country as well as the established principles and conventions which are integral to the welfare of our working people,” the Union said in its statement.