Trinidad’s oilfields union backs GAWU for better labour standards in oil sector

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union in Trinidad and Tobago to enable better standards of working in the local oil sector.

At the signing ceremony on Tuesday, President General of OWTU, Ancel Roget pointed out that multinational companies are appearing to capitalise on the oil wealth but workers must not settle for low wages, inadequate work standards or be left disadvantaged.
With decades of experience in lobbying for workers’ rights in Trinidad’s oil sector, this wealth of knowledge is being transferred to GAWU to have uniform standards in Guyana.
“That is the experience we do not want to befall our Guyanese brothers and sisters, that all of that wealth would have been extracted and the Guyanese people would be no better off. So, that is why we want to share our experience to ensure that from the quickest possible time, they get the benefit of that very important sector.”
He noted that the union has been able to set standards in Trinidad to ensure that the population is not exploited and benefit from their wealth. Over in the twin-island republic, Roget said they were able to correct practices that could have left citizens without any tangible benefits.
“If today, there are standards within industry, it came about as a result of the standards set by the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union and everybody would have followed though. What we want our comrades to benefit from is our knowledge with respect to health and safety, how to deal with industrial relations, how to get the best for their workers and more importantly, to not have our comrades in Guyana doing menial work.”
This partnership will enable GAWU to focus on other factors, such as expatriates employed in jobs which the local workforce is capable of doing.
President of GAWU, Seepaul Narine underscored that workers in Guyana’s petroleum industry are not treated in accordance with the labour laws, hence the need for such intervention.
“We recognise that the industry is growing at a fast pace and we also recognise that in the industry, many of the contractors who are supplying the labour force are not treating workers decently. They are denying them their PPE, overtime payment, annual leave and many other things that are in the law. So, we decided that it has reached the point whereby we have to be able to step up our level of representation to the workers.”
In a statement, GAWU also added, “For the unions, to share expertise and experience in advancing the rights and protecting the gains of workers within our unions and countries. The parties will also consider other appropriate and relevant collective actions in the interest of working-class protection and the development of Guyana’s Social Economy.”