Company that previously violated Safety Act to now abide by law – GAWU

…agency employment in oil sector a “disrespect” to local workers

Any company in the oil and gas sector that failed to uphold the lawful rights as an employer, has now been tasked with ensuring that these conditions are met after intervention from the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Labour Ministry.
GAWU’s Oil and Gas Branch was recently contacted by the employees of a popular recruitment agency in the sector. The workers, who are assigned to the workshop of a foreign-owned oil and gas enterprise operating in Guyana, informed the Union that their lawful workplace rights were not being upheld, and the conduct of the company was in violation of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act.
The Union articulated, “The workers shared that the recruitment agency in its contract of employment with the employees required them to provide their own steel-toe safety boots. Such a requirement, however, is contrary to the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. The law obligates employers to provide their employees with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). The recruitment agency, the Union understands, told some workers who did not have boots that same could be purchased by the agency. However, the cost would be recovered through deductions from their salaries. Again, this flies in the face of the OSH Act.”
After engaging the workers, the Union wrote the Ministry of Labour drawing to its attention what was prevailing. The Ministry engaged the recruitment agency, and informed that it must be compliant with the Laws of Guyana.
“It is understood that the agency sought to offer feeble and unconvincing rationales for its contractual provisions. Of course, the Ministry underlined that the law must be upheld.”
After a robust approach by the Ministry, the workers will now be provided with safety boots at no cost to them. Expectedly, they would receive same soon. They also shared with the Union that the principals of the agency informed them that they ought to have handled the matter differently.
However, GAWU strongly contended, “We, at this time, wonder how differently the matter could have been handled when the agency had an explicit contractual provision. At the same time, we contend, the client had a responsibility to ensure that agent/s acting on their behalf were complaint with the Laws of Guyana.”
In a statement, the Union said such incidents bring into focus the advice being provided by locals to foreign oil companies.
“We have to wonder whether these ‘professionals’ are really knowledgeable or is it a case of them knowingly cheating and deceiving workers out of their rights. Certainly, whatever is the case, it is disturbing and disheartening. While we welcome the Ministry’s forthright intervention, at the same time we recognise not all workers may not have access to the Ministry and there may be some who are unaware that their rights are violated and they are victims of exploitation at the workplace.”
It added that the issue of agency employment in the oil and gas sector is contributing to disrespect to the Guyanese workers.”
“It is disappointing that a matter as straightforward as this had to require the involvement of the Ministry of Labour before it could have been resolved. Of course, our own review of contracts of employment issued by recruitment agencies have confirmed that many practices Guyanese workers have become accustomed to are simply absent,” GAWU penned.
In several contracts, Union officials have found that workers, though entitled to uncertified sick days, cannot benefit from such entitlement unless their employer is satisfied that they are indeed ill.
“In our view, the employer is basically having the power to tell an employee when they can be ill and when they are not. With the practice of agency employment, the question as who really the employer is up in the air, at this point, as those who give the employees direction are not the ones who employed them.”