GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Workers at the BOSAI Bauxite Mining Company in Linden, in the Upper Demerara-Berbice region, are due to resume work on Friday after an agreement had been reached with their union to end the industrial action over salary increases.
“Workers are expected to turn out back to work, and on Monday, we’ll start the conciliation meeting,” said Dawchan Nagasar, the general secretary of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial, and Industrial Employees (NAACIE).
Nagasar said BOSAI was offering a seven percent pay hike for 2025 and 2026, while the workers were demanding eight percent and 8.5 percent for those years, respectively, in addition to several benefits. The union represents 350 workers.
He said that the workers had downed tools at 7.00 pm (local time) on Thursday, and that they had effectively stopped working on Wednesday night “because the mines started the strike…and everything was shut down except for essential services”.
A statement from the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning stated that it had engaged the parties to the dispute with the Chief Labour Officer, Dhaneshwar Deonarine, chairing the discussions. During these discussions, several issues arose, and several proposals were put forward in an effort to bring the strike action to an end.
It said that the “terms of Resumption” have been executed. As a result, “The union shall call off the strike with immediate effect” as well as undertake “to ensure that there is full resumption by all workers on September 26, 2025.
“There shall be no victimization by either party, and the status quo ante shall remain,” and that the parties will meet at the Ministry of Labour to commence conciliation on Monday.
“Monday’s conciliation meeting will set out to bring all issues that led to the strike action to the forefront to come to an amicable and fair resolution for all parties,” the statement said, adding that the ministry “remains dedicated to fostering a harmonious industrial relations climate and welcomes the constructive step taken by both parties to end the strike and pursue conciliation in good faith”.
and then 