THE more than 200 RUSAL workers on strike are in for the long haul, General Secretary of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GBGWU), Lincoln Lewis, who paid them a visit at the Aroaima site on Thursday, said.

He related that the workers have organised themselves in three large groups and each group is broken down into two smaller groups. The workers are operating a day/night shift system and have established a roster, so as to allow some to visit their families.

Some of the workers control the activities in Maple Town, while some control the activities at the Water Front, where the river is barricaded. Lewis said he visited the team today, after they requested first-hand information on what came out of the meeting he held with Minister of Social protection, Amna Ally, on Wednesday.

The workers applauded the government for standing up for them, noting that it is the first time in 10 years since they have been going through their plight with RUSAL, that any government would have stood up for them.

“They made it very clear that their greatest disappointment will come if the government retreats… they continue to urge the union to push for arbitration,” Lewis related.
The workers, he said, seem upbeat, though not earning at present because of the stance the government has taken for them. Lewis said this fight is more than one of industrial relations. “It is question of the sovereignty of this country… in all my years, I have never seen a company say to the government, that it is not going to the table, this is the first time I am seeing this… it speaks to how contemptuous these persons are, this company is, to Guyanese,” Lewis stressed.

While the company specifically requested that Lewis alone recuses himself from meeting with them, Lewis said he will never do it, even if it would be that the issue would be resolved. Him doing so, he said, would set the stage for them to determine who will represent the labour department, the political party and even be the President of Guyana.

WORRIED
“I am so worried about them, that they don’t respect our laws; they don’t respect our leaders and they don’t respect the citizens, they want to determine for you what must happen,” he said.

The workers related that the photograph of President David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo were taken down from the office in Aroaima because of the position that the government took with regards to the issue at hand. Lewis will be returning to Aroaima on Friday with other union representatives to stay with the workers to show his support.
“What I am doing here, I am carrying on the works of Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, Burnham and Jagan, they would have been doing the same thing,” he said.

Even as RUSAL issued letters to some terminated workers, requesting that they return to work, the workers noted that they will not be returning under the same circumstances that caused them to strike in the first place.

GOING TO THE END
Speaking to one very vocal worker on Tuesday, he said the workers are prepared to go above and beyond with RUSAL until they decide to do one thing, and that is meet with the entire union. He said that all other demands are secondary to the union’s engagement. “The priority is acknowledging the union, everything else will fall into place, salary, conditions, increase, and everything will fall into place.”
He said that Lincoln Lewis would have played a pivotal role in fighting for the workers and must be a part of the negotiations. “He is the leader, they are the foreigners, they cannot come here and call the shots,” he said.

When asked if the workers fear RUSAL completely closing operations, putting hundreds on the breadline, one worker said that, “that would be a glorious day for Guyana” and the Russians came here with a communist mentality.

“If they leave here, it will be a glorious day for us. We were surviving before they came and we will continue to survive after they leave. The Russians need what we have, which is one of the richest bauxite in the world and for them to get what we have, they have to employ us to get it, they are badly in need of us, more than we are in need of them,” the worker affirmed.

That is the main reason they are prepared to go to end of the battle, until they agree to their terms, which is to recognise the union. He said the sacrifices being made by the workers are a demonstration of solidarity as they are not only fighting for themselves, but for other workers who may be employed by expatriate companies in the future.