– in first meeting with labour minister

THE Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), in its first meeting with the Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, last Tuesday, highlighted the need for the establishment of an arbitration panel to deal with the impasse between the RUSAL-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) and the employees union, Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU).

The GTUC also called for the creation of an industrial tribunal or court, a revisiting of the Trade Union Recognition Act, and the restoration of Agency Shop across the public sector.
“These are issues that the GTUC, over the years, has been advocating for. These things are the very heart of labour and industrial relations,” a statement from the body noted
The union congratulated Hamilton on his appointment as minister of labour and noted that it welcomes the re-establishment of a Ministry of Labour, given that under the previous administration the ministry had been relegated to being a Department of Labour within the Ministry of Social Protection.
The Ministry of Labour was re-established following the changeover of government a few weeks ago, and Hamilton was appointed.
“We look forward to a good, meaningful, and productive working relationship with the minister. Now that we have a return of a ministry, it is therefore our expectation that the ministry will continue in accordance with the established norms,” the statement said.

It added: “The established norms include, embracing the declarations and conventions of the United Nations and International Labour Organisations, and equally upholding the Constitution and Laws of Guyana without fear, favour or ill will, so that the Guyanese labour force (past, present and potential) can be best served.”
Hamilton will now bring new blood to the RUSAL-GBGWU standoff, which saw many developments over the past few years, including the company’s termination of 326 of its workers last February.

The workers had subsequently responded by blocking a section of the river, as a means of preventing the company from shipping out its materials and equipment from its mines. Nonetheless, the company later shipped, out of the country, a number of pieces of equipment that it was already storing in Berbice.
Due to the blockage, the company has not operated for months; however, the company has never made it clear if it was entirely shutting down operations in Guyana. The situation had been awaiting the outcome of the March 2 elections for a way forward.
Global aluminum giant, RUSAL is a 90 per cent shareholder in BCGI while the government, through the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) owns the remaining 10 per cent.
It was revealed that over the years the company had not been paying over to the government its share of dividends, if any. However, representatives for the company, on several occasions, had reiterated that it was not making a profit.

BCGI and its employees have been at loggerhead for years.