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… says was necessary to facilitate the Wales Development Authority
…GAWU says NICIL’s actions “criminal”
The National Industrial and Commercial Investment Ltd. (NICIL) has stated that the firing of several workers recently was due to the transition process of the Wales Estate to the Wales Development Authority (WDA).
On Monday, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) had announced that the State-owned company had fired, without warning, approximately 60 workers employed at Wales Estate. In explaining its disappointment, GAWU notified the public that it had approached the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board (TURCB) seeking to be recognized as the bargaining agent of the workers who were then facing difficulties and NICIL appeared to be cooperating.
GAWU stated that NICIL, by letter dated December 11, 2020, wrote the TURCB seeking to commence the process and later acquiesced to the request only for the workers to be fired subsequently.
“…as hindsight has now revealed, it appeared, that the letter was, seemingly, a deliberate ploy to thwart the workers’ attempt to secure a union of their choice. The actions of NICIL brings back painful memories for the Union which faced similar challenges as it confronted the plantocracy in seeking recognition on behalf of the field and factory workers in the sugar industry. It is unbelievable, for us…” GAWU had stated.
However, in a release on Monday, NICIL sought to justify its actions. According to the company, the Government has long announced its initiative for the Wales Estate regarding the creation of a flagship project captioned, ‘The Wales Development Authority (WDA)’.
It is hoped that the project will represent a new era in Agricultural development and will see the employment of modern economic models across various sectors. According to NICIL, this restructuring led to the firing of the workers and this was already in process when the TURCB was written to.
“At the time of NICIL’s receipt of a letter from Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board (TURCB) plans were already in train to effect the transfer of the Wales Estate to facilitate the creation of the Wales Development Authority. NICIL’s actions to separate from fortnightly paid workers were in full support of its intent to ready the Estate for the ultimate transition,” the Company stated.
It further informed the public that NICIL would have facilitated the employment of several workers by referring them to the independent security company which is now tasked with securing the immovable assets of the Wales Estate during this brief transition phase.
Their account of their records state that NICIL maintained 49 fortnightly paid workers, as at December 31, 2020. These workers were deployed in various fields including Administration, Compound Maintenance, Field Workshop, Agriculture with Security workers making up the majority of workers, namely 32 workers on record. The security workers were allowed to secure employment through the recently engaged private security company and the other workers would be contracted as necessary on an ad-hoc basis to provide maintenance services on the Estate.
On the other hand, GAWU has stated that it sees the move as a “grave contravention of the Trade Union Recognition Act” and as “criminal”. It has called on the Board’s immediate intervention to apprehend the matter and ensure that the workers’ rights are upheld.
