…and reaction
From the dim – veeeery dim! – recesses of his mind, your Eyewitness was shocked he remembered Newton’s third law of motion back from high school days when he saw the dénouement to Lincoln Lewis’ goading of RUSAL!! Action and reaction are equal and opposite!! Sadly, this standoff was all about Lewis and his oversized ego rather than the almost 400 bauxite workers who are now on the breadlines!
But then, Newton also predicted Lewis’ bull-in-a-china-shop approach, didn’t he? Newton’s first law of motion states that an object in motion (here, Lewis) would continue in that motion unless some external force acts upon it!! Lewis had always resorted to bullyism in his dealings with others – whether in a debate or in union negotiations. He refused to accept the importance of context in his actions— what may have been suitable back in the 1970s when the socialist wave had swept up Burnham might now be completely irrelevant today!!
Well, he might’ve been elated that his bullying of the PNC Government officials to “stand up” to RUSAL in this election period, when every vote is critical to the PNC with its back on the ropes, had succeeded. Even though RUSAL had explained that production costs in Guyana – with the highest overburden to remove in the world and no deep water port for large ships to ship the bauxite out – was way out of line, the Government accepted Lewis having the bauxite workers ILLEGALLY block the Berbice River! Holding RUSAL’s ore to ransom!!
But not so incidentally also blocking ALL traffic – including of forestry products and throwing them out of work also. But who cared? Not Lewis or the Govt!! The latter also worked with GRA as a tag-team to squeeze RUSAL on its fuel tax exemption. Lewis explicitly ignored the economic constraints to his demands on wages and benefits and invoked POLITICAL rhetoric. He insisted on equating RUSAL operations to Russia invading and annexing Crimea!!
Well, RUSAL called his bluff!! After being harangued by Amna Ally in a meeting convened to have the impasse resolved but which instead saw Ally making the feeble excuse that the illegal blockage of the River was the responsibility of MARAD! – RUSAL announced they’ll be ceasing all operations immediately and letting ALL workers go!! Action got its equal and opposite reaction!!
Point of the matter is that Lewis refuses to understand the new globalised world we live and work in. Our bauxite is a primary product that’s available elsewhere so no aluminium manufacturer will put up with erratic supply!! This was the same nonsense that caused our nationalised bauxite industry to collapse under the PNC in the 1980s!
Maybe bauxite workers will apply that “outside” force to change Lewis’ modus operandi??
…in Caricom
Your Eyewitness is more than a tad puzzled by Granger’s penchant to pin top national awards on Barbadian Prime Ministers! Two in as many years: first Freundel Stuart and now Mia Mottley. OK…we’re both members of Caricom but what about the other thirteen PMs?? Plus, your Eyewitness still has his hackles up after the way Barbados treated Guyanese passing through their airport – with their “special” Guyanese bench!!
What made Granger’s choice of honouring Mottley right now is that only a couple of weeks ago, she chose to publicly embarrass the US by insisting that the latter was trying to “divide” Caricom!! The US is our closest ally – especially with Venezuela rattling sabres on our western border and refusing to accept the jurisdiction of the World Court to settle the controversy they precipitated over our borders. Not to mention their disastrous policies that are flooding us with refugees!!
Your Eyewitness notes that Granger wasn’t invited to meet Secretary of State Pompeo in Jamaica.
Seems the Yanks already know about Granger’s predilections!?!
…on Trotman
Your Eyewitness isn’t one to say “I told you so!” But he did point out from the moment that Trotman signed that oil contract back in 2016 that that fella double-crossed his country!!
Wasn’t the maxim always “Caveat Emptor”??
