Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL), which has attracted much criticism over the recent sacking of 11 protesting workers, has reportedly announced its intention to cease operations in Guyana.
Reports reaching this publication indicated that some 72 workers were on a retrenchment list, which would be completed by December.
GAWU General Secretary Seepaul Narine
The company reportedly disclosed its intended plans during a meeting held on Tuesday with the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) to discuss the proposed redundancy of workers.
Guyana Times understands that the company outlined options, the first being to sell its shares to a foreign investor. However, the shares could only be sold if the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) grants permission. This newspaper was told that DTL has already applied for permission.
Assuming the GFC does not agree the company can sell its shares, the DTL will utilise the concessions by having private contractors. It was explained that in any of these scenarios, the workers would have to be made redundant.
When contacted for a comment, GAWU General Secretary Seepaul Narine explained that these disclosures signalled that the company would close operations. He further stated his displeasure over the Union not being properly consulted by the DTL.
“This is not consultations; this is closing down the company one way or the other and getting rid of the workers,” Narine pointed out, adding that the Union was informed that some workers would be phased out by October month-end, while the others would be relieved of employment in November. This publication understands that the final set of workers would be retrenched in December.
Guyana Times was told that the DTL would supposedly pay the workers their “full benefits”. However, GAWU has maintained that as the 2015 pay rise dispute is still being looked at by the Social Protection Ministry’s Labour Department, the matter should be settled before any workers are laid off.
These revelations came after the company was asked to defend its decision to fire the workers that protested at DTL’s headquarters in Kingston, Georgetown last week.
The Union has maintained the position that the workers should be reinstated with full record of service. GAWU reminded that the timber company was unjust to terminate workers for taking industrial action over an ongoing pay raise dispute, citing Section Eight of the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act.
Narine told this newspaper on Tuesday that GAWU intended to write the Social Protection Ministry over the plight of the DTL workers.
It was just last week Monday that workers took industrial action over the pay raise issue. The next day, nine DTL employees were reportedly handed pink slips and the other two met the same fate over the next few days.
In a statement, GAWU had condemned the move and had even pointed out that those dismissals were the first time in Guyana’s history that a private or public entity had taken such an action despite the country’s labour laws, which prohibit workplaces from dismissing workers for taking part in industrial action.
GAWU added that the moves by the company could be seen as another “anti-worker and anti-Union act”.
The GAWU General Secretary, who was present at last week’s protest, suggested that the timber company must be prosecuted by Government over its continued disrespect to Guyanese employees.
“What we believe needs to be done now is the Ministry needs to prosecute them because they are in clear violation of the law and not only violating the law to the detriment of the employees, but a flagrant disrespect to the Ministry. I don’t think that the Ministry should continue to accept such a situation,” he had stated.
Negotiations between the Union and the company reached a stalemate on November 17, 2015 after the DTL did not approve any pay raise, but offered a Christmas bonus of $5000 to each worker. The DTL had informed that its financial state precluded it from offering a pay raise. Following the impasse, the dispute was next subjected to conciliatory services by the Social Protection Ministry’s Labour Department.
