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Motion Of No Confidence In Guyana Minister Of Labour, Mansoor Nadir

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Submitted by People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)

Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir of Guyana

The Laws of Guyana, particularly the Labour Act Cap. 98:01 and the Trade Union Recognition Act, Chapter 98:07 confer substantial powers on the Minister of Labour to take prompt and decisive action to settle cases of trade disputes and protect the rights of Guyanese workers. The powers include:

a) inquiring into the causes and circumstances of the difference;

b) taking such steps as to him may seem expedient for the purpose of promoting a settlement of the difference; and,

c) with the consent of both parties to the difference, or of either of them, or without their consent, refer the matter for settlement to the arbitration of an arbitration tribunal consisting of one or more persons appointed by the Minister.

In addition, the Government of Guyana is a signatory to ILO Conventions Nos. 87, 98, 135,154,158 and 163 which impose the obligation on the Government to protect and advance the rights and interests of Guyanese workers.

Armed, as he is, with these powers and obligations, we can only conclude that the failure of the Minister, to protect and uphold the legally entitled rights of the workers, under the 3-year duration (2008-2010) Collective Labour Agreement (C.L.A), between the recognised Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (G.B. & G.W.U.) and the RUSAL owned BCGI at Kwakwani, represent a gross and discriminatory dereliction of his responsibilities to the workers of Guyana.

In the circumstances, the PNCR has today submitted to the Clerk of the National Assembly the attached Motion of No Confidence in the Minister of Labour, Mr. Mansoor Nadir.

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8 responses to “Motion Of No Confidence In Guyana Minister Of Labour, Mansoor Nadir”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    It seems the politics of the region is starting to heat up.

  2. Caribbean Man Avatar
    Caribbean Man

    This is the way to go with the racist PPP government

  3. Angry Yank-E Bajan Avatar
    Angry Yank-E Bajan

    This is most worrisome!!

  4. David Avatar
    David

    MOTION

    NO CONFIDENCE IN MINISTER OF LABOUR, MANSOOR NADIR

    WHEREAS Section 4 of the Labour Act Cap. 98:01 of the Laws of Guyana delegates powers to the Minister of Labour in cases of trade disputes including,

    (a) inquiring into the causes and circumstances of the difference;

    (b) taking such steps as to him may seem expedient for the purpose of promoting a settlement of the difference; and,

    (c) with the consent of both parties to the difference, or of either of them, or without their consent, refer the matter for settlement to the arbitration of an arbitration tribunal consisting of one or more persons appointed by the Minister;

    AND WHEREAS section 6, of the said Labour Act gives the Minister of Labour the power to appoint an Advisory Committee in case of existing or apprehended trade disputes, which Committee shall inquire into the matters referred to it and shall report thereon and make such recommendations as it may deem expedient to the Minister;

    AND WHEREAS the Trade Union Recognition Act, Chapter 98:07, provides for the improvement and promotion of industrial relations by the establishment of procedures for the certifying of trade unions as recognised majority unions and for the matters connected therewith;

    AND WHEREAS section 23 (1) of the said Trade Union Recognition Act states that where a trade union obtains a certificate of recognition for workers comprised in a bargaining unit, the employer shall recognise the union, and the union and the employer shall bargain in good faith and enter into negotiations with each other for the purpose of collective bargaining;

    AND WHEREAS section 23 (3) of the said Act states that an employer who fails to comply with the provisions of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine, and, in addition, to a fine for every day the breach continues until the employer has complied with such provisions.

    AND WHEREAS section 26 (1) of the said Act states that no worker shall be dismissed, or have his employment adversely affected, or his position altered by his employer, by reason of the circumstances that the worker,

    (a) is an officer, delegate or member of a trade union; or,

    (c) has for reasonable cause absented himself from work without leave after he has made an application for leave for the purpose of carrying out his duties under the Act as an officer or delegate of a trade union and such leave has been unreasonably refused or withheld;

    AND WHEREAS the said Act states that an employer who contravenes any of the provisions of subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine, and, the magistrate making the order for conviction, shall also order that the worker be reimbursed any wage lost by him and direct that, notwithstanding any rule of law to the contrary, the worker be reinstated in his former position or in a similar position with terms and conditions of employment no less favourable;

    AND WHEREAS the Minister of Labour is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the provisions of the Labour Act and the Trade Union Recognition Act are complied with and section 37. (1) of the Trade Union Recognition Act further empowers the Minister to make regulations generally for carrying out the provisions of this Act, including, regulations prescribing anything which is to be prescribed under this Act;

    AND WHEREAS the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (G.B.& G.W.U) is the recognised Trade Union for workers employed with the RUSAL owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI)’s at Kwakwani, Berbice and that Union, representing their members, entered into negotiations as a result of which there exists a Collective Labour Agreement (C.L.A), which is of three (3) years duration – beginning from 1st January 2008 and ending on the 31st December 2010;

    AND WHEREAS Article 28(A) (1) of the Labour Amendment Act No. 9 of 1984 makes every written Collective Labour Agreement legally enforceable, except where the Parties agree otherwise;

    AND WHEREAS in the exercise of their constitutional and legal rights the bauxite workers of BCGI proceeded on strike on 22 November 2009 and in retaliation, BCGI issued suspension and dismissal letters to most of the workers, fifty-seven (57) of whom are union leaders;

    AND WHEREAS some workers were, upon resumption of work and upon condition of being in continued employment, forced to sign a company prepared petition requesting the de-legitimization of the Union;

    AND WHEREAS on December 1, 2009, the company notified the Ministry of Labour, that it had arbitrarily terminated the Collective Labour Agreement and commenced the process of derecognising the legitimate union.

    AND WHEREAS the conduct and actions of RUSAL, the owners of BCGI, are not new in as much as they have employed similar tactics against workers in other countries in which they have been operating, including the Republic of Guinea, where their Industrial Relations Manager was recently expelled following revelations of the company’s horrid and offensive labour practices in that country;

    AND WHEREAS the Minister of Labour, who should be an impartial Mediator, publicly and openly sided with the foreign company by criticising the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (G.B.& G.W.U) for allegedly agreeing to the termination of 75 workers, as claimed by BCGI, but denied by the Union

    AND WHEREAS the Minister of Labour has failed and / or refused to use the powers vested in him by Law to resolve the trade dispute between the GB&GWU and BCGI despite letters from the Leader of the Opposition requesting his intervention, letters from the Union, and appeals by local and international Organisations;

    AND WHEREAS after five months the workers dispute remain unresolved and the Minister appears determined to initiate proceedings to derecognise the legitimate Union rather than resolve the trade dispute;

    AND WHEREAS the Minister has an obligation to equally protect the rights of the workers and ensure that the Laws of Guyana are not wilfully and wantonly disregarded but has persistently refused to carry out his obligation to protect the interest of Guyana’s workers;

    AND WHEREAS THE Minister has a record of not representing the interest of the workers as evidenced by his silence and / or refusal to speak against the PPP/C Administration’s unilateral cessation of the check-off system for union dues from public servants for the Guyana Public Service Union, (GPSU), and the abandonment of collective bargaining by the Government in violation of ILO Conventions (Nos.87,98, 135,154,158 and 163) to which Guyana is a signatory;

    AND WHEREAS the Minister of Labour has also openly in the National Assembly of the Parliament spoken in support of the wilful and malicious withholding of subventions approved by the Parliament for the Critchlow Labour College followed by the refusal of the PPP Administration to make any further allocations to facilitate workers education at that College;

    BE IT RESOLVED that this National Assembly expresses its lack of confidence in the Minister of Labour, Mr. Mansoor Nadir, over the manner in which he has failed to carry out his legal responsibilities for the settlement of trade disputes particularly, the dispute between the GB & GWU and RUSAL; his failure to represent the interest of workers as evidenced by his failure to speak out on the withdrawal of the check-off system for union dues of public servants associated with the GPSU; his open support for the withdrawal of the subvention approved by the National Assembly to the Critchlow Labour College; and, his failure and / or reluctance to ensure that the Government of Guyana honours the many conventions of the ILO to which Guyana is a signatory;

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this National Assembly calls on the Government of Guyana to honour the many conventions of the ILO to which it is a signatory and also ensure that the labour Laws of the country are honoured by all employers more particularly, the RUSAL owned, Bauxite Companyof Guyana Inc;

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this National Assembly condemns BCGI’s unlawful, arbitrary and unilateral de-recognition of the G.B.& G.W.U in violation of the Trade Union Recognition Act and calls on the Government of Guyana to present to the National Assembly the Terms of Agreement between the Government of Guyana and RUSAL whereby RUSAL was allowed to carry on bauxite and other business in Guyana:

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this National Assembly supports the demands of the G.B&G.W.U for the reinstatement of the dismissed workers and the impartial and professional intervention in the dispute by the Chief Labour Officer;

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this National Assembly initiates an international appeal for support from all Parliaments in those countries in which RUSAL is presently carrying out any type of business operations as well as seek solidarity and support from all relevant international Organisations.

    MOVED BY: BASIL WILLIAMS , MP

    SECONDED BY: E LANCE CARBERRY MP

    People’s National Congress Reform

    Congress Place, Sophia,

    Georgetown, Guyana

    Friday 9 April 2010

    Visit our website @ http://www.guyanapnc.org

    People’s National Congress Reform

    (PNCR)

  5. Ruel Daniels Avatar
    Ruel Daniels

    These Nazi Indians are joining with Racist White corporations to reintroduce a form of slavery in Guyana. This is typical of the PPP administration. They pamper the union that represent Indian sugar workers, nd are trying to kill the union that represent African miners. And some of you claim we are too extreme when we point out the patterns of Indian Racism.

  6. David Avatar
    David

    A related story. Corruption everywhere in the Caribbean. Does anyone care though?

     

    AG report replete with administration’s breaches of the law

    April 10, 2010 | By KNews | Filed Under News

    The Auditor General’s report on the country’s Public Accounts for 2008 presented to the Speaker of National Assembly and now made public, is replete with numerous financial violations by various agencies of the administration.
    Among the glaring pronouncements was that the fact that contingency fund had been debited more than $670M for expenditures that did not satisfy the criteria required by law. The report called it a continued abuse of the Contingency Fund which caters for unexpected issues of national interest that require Government intervention.

    According to the report, persons at the Customs and Trade Administration perpetrated some 51 fraudulent transactions that resulted in the theft of $108M in 2008, while another 161 incidents took place in 2009 resulting in the loss of another $193M.

    It is also pointed out in the report that over $19.4B is held in accounts that are either defunct or not meant to hold those funds pending transfer while the former Consolidated Fund bank account was overdrawn by some $48.9B.

    This account however is not the only overdrawn one as is illustrated by the Auditor General either, there were 42 accounts deemed inactive carrying overdrafts totaling $685.9M, two dozen of which each exceed the $1M mark.

    A number of accounts which should have been closed as a result of the implementation of the Integrated Financial Management and Accounting System (IFMAS) such as the former Consolidated Fund bank account No. 400, were not.

    “It still exists along with the General Account No. 405 and the Non-Sub Accounting Ministries and Departments Bank Account No. 3001 both used as intermediary accounts to allow for the disbursement of funds to Ministries and Non-Sub Accounting Ministries and Departments respectively.”

    According to the report, the figures for revenue estimates versus actual Government receipts for current and capital revenue displayed a positive variance of $1.9B and a negative variance of some $18.6B. The values for estimated expenditure against actual expenditure were $3.2B over and $4.5B under.

    The Report summarised the Audit findings at a Ministerial/Departmental/Regional Level, noting a number of discrepancies.

    Contract awards and payments upon scrutiny found that almost $58M had been overpaid to contractors and the issue of recovering the funds continues to pose a challenge to the agencies.

    “Even more troubling is the perceived managerial inaction in relation to this troubling trend, since there was no evidence to suggest that disciplinary action of any kind have been meted out to engineering or other staff involved.”

    As it relates to tenders, there was also a plethora of procedural breaches such as in the case of Region Four where it was found that quotations were falsified and purchases made from persons not considered to be established suppliers.

    This resulted in the fraudulent disbursement of $6.9M in 2008 and over $21M in 2009.

    Appropriation accounts were also found to be overstated and misrepresented in a number of situations. There was the matter of salary overpayments as a result of delays in terms of initiating pay change directives.

    Fund recovery is influenced by the fact that banking institutions require the account holder’s consent to deduct funds. As such, it is a challenge to the agencies therein.

    Even statutory agencies such as the Guyana Revenue Authority and the National Insurance Scheme have not been in full compliance as it relates to requests to refund overpaid sums, according to the report.  Some $68M is missing as a result of the salary discrepancies.

    The return of unexpended money allotted to subvention agencies also continues to be a feature in the Audit general reports

    The Ministry of Housing at the 2008 had some $309M unspent in its coffers. This sum was not returned to the Consolidated Fund but instead placed in a special bank account.

    “This placement subsequently resulted in the Capital Appropriation Account being overstated by the aforementioned amount at the end of the audit period.”

    Gifts to Ministries were another issue raised in the report where it was noted that a continued lack of reporting and accounting resulted in the Miscellaneous Receipts of $23M at the end of the audit period being understated by an “undetermined amount”.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    Nadir says Sir Roy sell-out Barbados workers

    Sell- out!

    Guyana Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir on Thursday said that the recent announcement by Sir Roy Trotman that the Barbados Workers Union of which he is the general secretary will not be seeking an increase in wages and salaries for hotel and restaurant workers for the year, December 2009- 2010 is a “ sell- out of the workers”. On Tuesday the BWU general secretary, said in a statement that proposals had been submitted to the hotel industry, but “ as a mature organisation” and “ committed as we are to helping the industry to build itself back, using all the stakeholders – meaning the workers – have agreed and we have so written to the hoteliers” regarding their position to freeze salaries and wages at their present level.

    He explained that their position was not taken because the hoteliers could not afford, but because “ we have to make a sacrifi ce”. “ If we do it at the level of the workers, we think the country should be looking in the same mature and forward- looking manner towards how we should have been building in every area in the industry for its future development,” he explained.

    Trotman stressed however, that there were some other matters the two sides needed to discuss.

    He said one proposal was that the trade union and the hoteliers should come together, not to look for more money, but rather to seek ways and means through which management, hoteliers and the non- management hotel workers could put their heads together to fi nd ways in which they might be able to increase the through- put of effi ciency, labour and communication skills or whatever there was that could help conduce a better hotel industry.

    Pointing out that in many instances the work ers on the shop fl oor were more aware of what was required than the worker in the offi ce, Trotman said he “ believes that the hoteliers at management level, too seldom took into account what the workers at the shop fl oor level were able to contribute to whatever the service was that was being supplied”. He also said “ the union had asked the hoteliers to meet but they had not been able to do so yet, so that the workers could truly become part of the process for change”. “ Part of this has to do with the level of respect.

    If you would seek my guidance and my advice in what you are doing, that I believe because you think I have something to offer, if employers would do that, I believe workers would be able to demonstrate that they have plenty to offer; they would also feel that their views are important and they would be able to walk with a better spring in their step because they count for something,” Trotman said.

    He added that “ regrettably, a number of people did not understand that the human psyche and the human person did not live for bread and dollar in their pocket”. “ People want respect and recognition and until that begins to happen in the hotel industry we will not get the level of contri bution of the rank and fi le that this hotel industry needs and needs yesterday.” Meanwhile, Nadir said, “ this is the same person who sought to lecture us on the rights of workers, trade unionists, our obligations to the ILO conventions and to the collective bargaining process. Yet, in spite of the tardiness of the hoteliers to meet with the union, he has announced unilaterally the BWU would not be seeking salary increases for its members.” “ The actions of Sir Roy must strike the labour fraternity as being extremely strange and puzzling.” Nadir observed that as an experienced trade unionist, Sir Roy would have wanted to use all the leverage he had to ensure that he could advocate for more recognition of the effort of workers and would have wanted even a small signal wage increase for his members.

    Nadir pointed out that earlier this year while in Guyana, Trotman condemned the Bharrat Jagdeo government and the police for arresting two trade unionists, whom he said were protesting for workers rights.

    “ Instead of seeking responses from all sides Sir Toy was quick to make conclusions, supposedly on behalf of Guyanese trade unionists and workers.

    Now in Barbados he takes the position of the employers, a most strange and anti- worker stance,” Nadir added.

    Copyright © 2008 GuyanaTimes

    BEST VIEWED WITH 800 * 600 SCREEN RESOLUTION AND IE 6.0 AND ABOVE

  8. Caribbean Man Avatar
    Caribbean Man

    Sir Roy had it coming to him. This should be a lesson for him on the mindset of the racist indian government. Easy lesson good for dunce. Can’t say he didn’t get the message loud and clear

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