–Labour Minister says stand ready to engage company on concerns

SEVERAL employees of the St. Mary’s Quarry in Bartica, Region Seven, on Tuesday called on the Ministry of Labour to investigate the alleged severe and inhumane conditions they are forced to work under. During an impromptu visit to the quarry, Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, found that workers were being forced to work seven days a week and 12 hours a day without any compensation for additional hours of work. Additionally, it was revealed that workers are allocated only two to three days of vacation leave, and these are said to be only under the circumstances of an emergency. It was also revealed that workers are not equipped with the necessary safety gear to perform their daily duties.
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle in a separate interview, an employee of the quarry, who asked for his name to be withheld in fear of ‘backlash’, said that he has been employed with the company for five years and has been a diligent worker since his first day.

However, the working conditions have become unbearable, especially since he gets little to no time off for himself and receives no overtime pay when he works beyond his eight-hour shift.
“Since I’m here, we always get an issue with the same labour situation, since I working here five years now… every month we always have a problem in standing down, they claim to say we working hours,” the man lamented, adding: “If we come forward and bring certain things to the management, they would always call the boss and the boss would send a message to us, like threaten if we don’t like it, we could find a next work.”
Addressing the health conditions of the work environment, the man revealed that workers do not have toilet facilities to relieve themselves, nor a lunch room for them to eat during their breaks. Another worker, who also spoke under anonymity, told this publication that he has been employed at the company for three years, and has not been given a proper vacation leave.
He indicated that on the few occasions he was given a leave of absence from work it was under the circumstance of an emergency.

Meanwhile, when asked what stance the ministry will take in addressing the issues raised by the employees, Minister Hamilton said that the ministry will be reaching out to the company to have an open dialogue on the issues that were raised by the workers.
“They will come for us to have a conversation and I will put these matters to them that I have observed and I was told and I will wait to hear their response …I would have a meeting with the owners of the St. Mary’s company but I will hold back my response at this time until I have an engagement with the owner of the company,” he related.
Making a call for both local and foreign companies to respect and uphold the country’s labour laws, the minister said: “Let me say this to companies, and I will keep saying this to people, you have two options: either you obey the law and comply, or I call press conferences and let them see how this works out.”
He added that failure to comply will result in companies being called out publicly for breaching the labour laws.
“All companies you obey and comply. You refuse to do that I will assemble the media and attempt to publicly shame you. That is the bottom line, whether you be a local company or overseas company,” Hamilton asserted.