— GOGEC President

GUYANA Oil and Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC) President Manniram Prashad has noted with concern a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU).

GOGEC in a release said it has always advocated for Guyanese workers doing the same jobs as expatriates be paid similar wages.

“We respect good industrial relations and are in the forefront to ensure that we have a healthy industrial climate. It is unfortunate that GAWU feels that foreign intervention is needed to represent oil- and-gas workers who they are attempting to get unionised,” the release said.

GOGEC is of the view that Guyana has good industrial relations practices in the oil-and-gas sector, in which the Ministry of Labour has been monitoring closely and quite effectively

It noted that in Trinidad and Tobago, Petrotrin experienced a series of strikes, protest actions and marches and was forced to close in 2018.

“The OWTU lost a significant amount of its membership We have a relative [sic] stable industrial climate in the oil-and-gas sector in Guyana and we want it to remain that way. GOGEC is urging GAWU to reconsider its decision to bring in a foreign union and to seek help from other trade unions and experienced trade unionists in Guyana in which there is an abundance,” the release said.