RUSAL suspends operations in Guyana

ACCORDING to U.S. media company Bloomberg, Russian-owned bauxite company RUSAL has suspended its mining unit in Guyana over the current labour conflict which saw the dismissal of over 90 workers for engaging in strike action.

The publication stated that RUSAL, in emailed comments, claimed that workers “declined to work and demanded a pay increase, even though their salaries had been adjusted for forecast inflation at the end of last year.”

This saw the company moving its equipment to a guarded warehouse as part of a decision taken on February 15, 2019, to suspend its mining unit due to a “massive violation of labour discipline.”

However, it is the government and the workers at the Aroaima mining site who believe that RUSAL is in violation of the country’s labour laws.

TENSIONS flared on Monday when the Russian-owned Bauxite Company, RUSAL, refused to meet the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU), saying it does not want to engage Lincoln Lewis.