Former Barama workers say company gave short notice before lay offs

While they continue to try to find new jobs, some former Barama workers believe that the company could have given them more notice before retrenching them.

Lionel Ramkissoon, a former supervisor, told Stabroek News that the only problem he had with the retrenching was the short notice.

“They give you a letter and told you that you coming off at X time and then they give you the one month severance and that was it,” the man pointed out, while explaining that prior to him being laid off on August 11, he was given notice just a mere week before.

He said the company had a meeting some months before but never mentioned anything about laying workers off.

“We had a meeting long before and they were just enlightening us [the workers] on how the company is going,” the man explained, while adding that from his knowledge, the figures that were recently provided by General Manager Mohindra Chand indicating that 180 persons had been laid off were correct.

Another worker, Denise Primo, who worked in the plywood factory, explained that with the exception of the letter, the staff were not informed of the company retrenching workers. “We would just hear rumours around the place that they already start firing people and that they were going to lay off lots more because of what was happening with the market and the government,” the woman explained.

Primo explained that she had received

her letter two days before she was being laid off. “I received my letter on August 29, and it said I was being laid off on the 31st,” the woman said. She said that she was also paid her severance. However, she said she believes the company should have called a meeting and informed the staff of the decision. “They could’ve been more professional, you know? Not just give everybody a letter telling them that they getting lay off. Even though it would’ve been hard, all you had to do was hold a meeting and explain to everyone,” the woman pointed out.

She explained that it has been more than a month since she has been without a job and she has been unable to find another alternative method of gaining an income. “I live in Kuru Kururu and jobs are not really available here. At least they gave us the month salary and other benefits but it’s been difficult and will only get more difficult,” she stated.

Primo said that while she had been working with the company for more than three years and had worked there before, Barama had always complained about the poor market. “Ever since Barama here, they always crying they in a crisis,” she pointed out.

‘Tough’

Another employee, Rawle Roberts, who worked at the company as a mechanic in one of the factories, had a similar experience as the other two workers. He pointed out that he received his letter a month before. “They notified me a month before and they explained that it was due to the government’s slow pace with the contract negotiations and a lot of other things,” the man said, while adding that from what he noticed, what has been reported about the total number of workers laid off is true.

Roberts, who lives in Linden, said that since he got the letter about being laid off, he started to apply for jobs. He is currently still unemployed. “It’s tough, you know, but we are trying. I just want to get another job,” the man said.

Roberts explained that he has been in contact with many of his coworkers who were laid off and most of them are still looking for jobs.

While it is unusual for such a large number of workers to be laid off with no commotion, the workers related that from all indications the company followed all procedures and protocols. “Well, the union don’t see any problems with what is going on, so we didn’t really question anything. We saw Mr [Lincoln] Lewis [General Secretary of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union] and he had discussions with the company and some of the workers,” one of the workers said.

When Stabroek News contacted Lewis, he indicated that the company was following all the necessary procedures when it came to the laying off workers.

It was also related to Stabroek News that there was a meeting between the union and the government some two weeks ago. Sources revealed that the government had indicated to the union and the company that it had every intention of renewing the contract and will engage in final discussions and negotiations at the end of September.

Chand had explained to Stabroek News several weeks ago that because of the economic slowdown and the company having over $1billion in stocks stored, it was forced to cut its production in half, which resulted in the laying off of about 180 workers in three months. He had also explained that the delay in the renewal of its contract with government, which is scheduled to expire on October 15, impacted investor confidence, which had an effect on the amount of workers being retrenched.

He also pointed out that even if the company’s production was to resume to the full scale, there is no guarantee that any of the retrenched workers would be rehired.