The ongoing industrial unrest in the bauxite belt, arising out of the recalcitrant behaviour of the RUSAL Bauxite Company, is not gaining much public attention. Interest in the situation is waning as those of us living in our cities, busy ourselves with Christmas preparations, and are increasingly distracted by other news and events which overtake yesterday’s events. However for many workers at RUSAL, and residents of Linden, Kwakwani, and Aroaima, the situation is quite different, and in fact remains very grim. Their union has been unlawfully “de-recognised” by RUSAL, many have been dismissed and as I write, am informed that some are being forcibly thrown out of their accommodations. This, after RASUL recently failed to show up for Labour Ministry sponsored talks. On a recent visit to Kwakwani I met workers and their families who were angry and confused, but yet strong in their resolve that they have rights which must be respected by any company doing business in Guyana; especially, foreign companies. These rights are recognised by the International Labour Conventions, the Constitution and Laws of Guyana. We would expect that foremost amongst the upholders of the laws, and protector of the people, is the government. This is not the case. In Kwakwani and Aroaima, there is a certain indignation reserved for the PPP/C administration which appears, or pretends to be, helpless in the presence of this Russian “giant”. So much for the right to freedom of association; the Constitution and Laws of Guyana; and Collective Labour Agreements. So much for the government of Guyana.
In the midst of the woes of the bauxite workers, which woes, is not as news-worthy as the happenings within the sugar sector, much ado has been made about GAWU and the sugar worker’s strike and the arbitral award of 3% increase to be paid before or after Christmas. We should all note the manner in which the government responded to the GAUW issue as against how they handle bauxite workers’ problems. The contrast is like “chalk to cheese”. In paying attention to one, we ignore the other, and it is time we recognise the inter-connectedness and powerful relationship between the two. In our recent history there has not been severe dislocation and discontent in both the bauxite and sugar belts at the same time. Unions, representing, bauxite and sugar workers, are agitating strenuously for a better deal for their workers. Both are justified in their demands; both however have failed to see the multiplying effect of working together, but have chosen instead to prosecute their causes independently. In the words of leading trade unionist, Norman Witter, we need to have a “convergence of struggle” to shake this establishment to its roots. This happening of simultaneous struggle is rare and of tremendous significance as it underlines the fact that indeed, two of the industrial pillars that support the state, culture, communities, and politics are both being shaken, albeit by different hands- not working in tandem and with one mind. The moment, and the initiative, will not last indefinitely.
If ever there was a moment in time for solidarity to rise above individuality it is now. The Executive and membership of the Guyana Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) and the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) need to look across at each other, and to see in each other, not as opponents, but as deserving workers- brothers and sisters, each coming against uncompromising corporate interests. It is time to link hands and minds and to find a way to fight as their predecessors had done time and time again in decades past. If unionism is to survive Guyana, and in any healthy format, there has to be a reunification of the fragmented groupings and a healing of rifts and divisions driven deeper by personal ambition, dislikes, and racial and political considerations.
Over the years, this administration has worked systematically to reduce unions to social clubs that are able to provide few benefits to the workers. We have had the removal of annual subventions for the TUC; the imposition of wage increases without collective bargaining; the refusal to recognise and honour the “agency shop” arrangements necessary for unions to survive; and more recently the removal of the necessary subvention to support the Critchlow Labour College just to name a few of the calculated actions of the PPP/C. The cumulative effect of these is that this government has successfully removed the authority of unions to stand and fight on behalf of the workers of Guyana. Why, one may ask, would any self respecting and respecting government do so? In two words, it is all about “paramountcy” and “control”. The greatest irony is that the PPP/C once prided itself as being a “working people’s party”. It used to be in the vanguard in confronting the PNC as that party made manoeuvres within the trade union movement. Today, it has become the vanguard that has attacked the base of the movement and is now, piece, by piece, dismantling the superstructure.
At Aroaima in the Berbice River, we have a foreign company that has been invited into Guyana and is being allowed to break the labour rules and laws with impunity. RUSAL has declared that it no longer adheres to the Collective Labour Agreement entered into between itself and the GB&GWU! It has gone further and declared that it has “de-recognised” the workers’ union. These two actions are in clear violation of the laws of Guyana and instead of stamping its authority, and enforcing order and respect for the rule of law, the Ministry of Labour has instead fostered confusion and disrespect within the trade union movement.
There is no condemnation by the Ministry of Labour, or from any other high office in the land. Instead there is every attempt to placate and please. Guyanese workers have been skinned and sacrificed at an altar for someone’s personal gain. It is an outrage. The Trade Union Recognition Act is quite explicit as to how a union may be de-recognised and another installed in its place to represent workers. Why then is the Ministry of Labour so silent? I submit that there is vested and personal interest involved that supersede the Laws of Guyana, and the norms and practices of good industrial relations. These very personal considerations have led to the disrespect that we witness today whereby, a very strong and significant union is being made into a eunuch without clout not by the company, but the government of Guyana.
There will always be disputes between employer and employee, and there will always be attempts by either side to transgress the laws, or to re-interpret the agreements that regulate their relationships. But because we know this, we have laws and agencies that are supposed to sit in neutral enclaves to act as mediators and arbitrators, and to ensure that the balance is always maintained and that the “strong” do not disregard and disrespect the “weak”.
And so while we hurtle headlong into the Christmas season let us remember that there are thousands who work in the sugar and bauxite industries who will be without salary; without food; and without respect because their government has let them down. In one instance, it is too compromised to defend them against foreign interest, and in the other, too consumed by the fluff and fanfare of opening new factories and doling out exorbitant salaries to even be concerned about the plight of the worker who risks life and limb to make his contribution to national development. The Alliance For Change stands in solidarity with workers everywhere and urges that reason should ensure that the true meaning of solidarity is rediscovered and that this will usher in a new dawn of collaboration and reunification.
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