– company puts new proposal to table, union to consider

THE majority of the 600 workers employed by Bosai Mineral Group Guyana (BMGG), the Chinese-owned bauxite company operating in Linden, downed tools on Wednesday and will remain on strike until the management of BMGG decides upon an increase of more than 6.5 per cent.

The decision to down tools came after management announced a 6 per cent increase for 2019 and a 6.5 per cent increase for the following two years. This unilateral decision was made by the company after discussions between management and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), had continued to a dead end.

The workers came out in full force to air their opposition to the increase. All of the mines workers were on strike and operations in the mines were affected, according to Senior Personnel Officer Truedel Marks; only foremen, casual workers and apprentices turned up for work. In the mines, operations were manned by a skeleton staff including foremen, casuals, apprentices and very few workers who decided not to strike. The workers walked the streets of Republic Avenue before assembling in front of the Bosai’s main entrance with placards. One worker related to this newspaper that their reason for striking is that the company is in a financial position to give a higher increase than 6.5 per cent, since they have been making billions in profits.

Bosai shifts position
The strike action prompted senior officials from NAACIE to journey to Linden to engage both the workers and management. Present at the engagement was General- Secretary of NAACIE, Dawchan Nagasar. He related to this publication that Bosai shifted its position and brought a new proposal of 7 per cent for the two years.

While Marks did not relay what was the figure, she did say that a new proposal was brought to the table after management’s reconsideration. She said she is hoping the union’s response to this new proposal would be not only positive, but prompt, since operations are severely affected, especially in the mines. “We are hoping they come to an agreement so that workers can go back to work as early as tonight,” she said.
Nagasar related that the 7 per cent proposal is being considered by the union. “They did bring a new proposal to the table, some are for it, some are against, so it is under consideration,” he said.

In addition to salary increases, the workers also related their concern with Bosai holding two separate staff meetings; one in the mines and one in the Mackenzie plant. They are calling for one meeting to be held, as they believe this will allow workers to voice their concerns in a more effective manner. Nagasar related that not many concerns pertaining to the working conditions were raised by the workers.

The last time Bosai workers downed tools was in 2016 over slothful negotiations for increase in wages and salaries.

Meanwhile, Bosai’s counterparts at the Russian-owned bauxite company,RUSAL, through their Guyana Bauxite and General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU), is calling for the same 6.5 per cent increase that Bosai workers benefited from over the last few years. They are rejecting the three per cent proposal from RUSAL. “Alongside with the bauxite company BOSAI, three per cent is nothing. Because BOSAI rate is far over our own and we are in the interior location, whereas BOSAI is actually in a town where most of the workers go home to their family when we have to wait 14 days,” BCGI Union Branch Secretary Leslie Junor related. As a result of this, GB&GWU General-Secretary Lincoln Lewis, has written the Department of Labour, requesting that the dispute be moved to conciliation.