RE-INSTATED workers of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) have reported that they are back on the job and everything has returned to normalcy.

To celebrate this achievement, they are preparing to host a national thanksgiving service to express gratitude to God and all those who played a pivotal role in their reinstatement. RUSAL employee, Ephraim Velloza related, “So far the process is smooth, everything is going okay so far, everything is going according to plan.”

Some workers were afraid that they would have been targeted for suspecting to have instigated the strike, but Velloza said that had not happened. The workers, who participated in the five week strike, also did not discriminate against those that did not and were part of the skeleton staff that manned the operations, during this period.

Velloza said that the workers are eagerly awaiting the commencement of continuous negotiations between the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) and the company. Top on the agenda, he said, was standard payment packages that are mandatory by law. This includes double rates on holidays and Sundays and out-of-town allowances since they are working from an interior location. Workers are also looking forward to negotiations on the management of their health and safety which should be followed by a visit from officers of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

He said that currently, the security officers do not have a lavatory to use and have to relieve themselves in the open.
He is hoping this is corrected earliest. “We are not fighting for ourselves but for the security and everyone else that plays a role,” he posited. Relative to the provision of meals, which the company contracts persons to do, Velloza said that the service of a dietician is needed which will enable these persons to supply them with healthy, balanced diets. The union is expected soon to engage the company on additional bargaining.

One worker has threatened that if the company does not respond favorably to the union, the strike will reconvene and the river will be blocked again. Following the signing of the Terms of Resumption (ToR) last week, in a statement GB&GWU said the move brought an end to a nine-year long industrial dispute between the two parties.

“Both parties have further agreed to recognise the sovereignty, Constitution and Laws of Guyana and neither shall act in contravention thereof; promised to uphold the spirit and goodwill to which the ToR was negotiated and signed and will do nothing to circumvent same”, the statement stressed. The workers and the union would have expressed immense gratitude to the Ministry of Social Protection, more particularly Minister Amna Ally who brought a seriousness and intolerance to the violation of the Laws of Guyana and Guyanese workers.