By Patrick Denny and Daniel DaCosta
Stabroek News
May 31, 2001

Berbice Mining Enterprise (Bermine) workers at Everton yesterday resolved to reject Alcoa's proposal to take over that company's operations. And their colleagues at Kwakwani will have the opportunity to vent their feelings on the issue when the bauxite resuscitation committee visits operations at Aroaima and Kwakwani over the next two days.

The visits are being made against the background of the announcement by Prime Minister Sam Hinds that the government favoured a proposal by Aroaima Bauxite Company's (ABC) parent company, Alcoa, which would consolidate the operations of Aroaima and the Berbice Mining Enterprise (Bermine) operations at Kwakwani.

Hinds is due to visit the Bermine operations at Everton and Kwakwani to explain the government's position at the weekend.

The consolidation would mean the immediate closure of the Bermine operations at Everton with the immediate loss of 270 jobs. Stabroek News understands that eventually the 954-member work force at Aroaima and Kwakwani would be reduced to 400 when the ore at Aroaima ran out in about two to three years.

Yesterday, the National Mining and General Workers Union (NM&GWU) and the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) held a rally in New Amsterdam after a march from Everton to explain their positions on the Alcoa proposal and its implications for the Bermine workers.

The objective of the march and rally was to: 'show our strong objection to Alcoa's arrogant, unjust and insensitive proposals, re: the merging of Bermine's operations with that of ABC and the serious negative social and economic consequences these proposals can visit upon the lives and welfare of Bermine employees and their resident communities should they be favourably considered.'

The workers, many dressed in red T-shirts, bearing placards and chanting slogans left Everton at around 8.00 am. They moved along the East Bank Public road into Stanleytown, along Main Street, into New Street, along Strand and converged at the Bermine Management Centre.

Speaking at the rally, President of the GB&GWU, Charles Samson said: "If the Everton Plant is closed it will affect not only you, your children and your family but also business and the entire township of New Amsterdam."

Calling on workers to stand up for their rights, Samson argued that Bermine could become viable but must be given a chance to do so. "The people who run Bermine have not been given the opportunity to run its operations successfully. Bermine needs only approximately US$14 million to turn it around and the government should provide such funding. If the management fails after this injection then we cannot argue if the government then decides to look for an alternative." According to the union leader Alcoa was only interested in extracting bauxite and leaving. "You have to keep Alcoa away from Bermine... let them go explore new mines and leave Bermine alone," he said to loud applause from the workers.

He said the Prime Minister's statement reported in yesterday's Stabroek News that Alcoa was favoured "...flies in the face of the activities of the bauxite committee. He has prejudiced the functions of the committee."

According to Samson redundancy payments "will not put you anywhere since most of you will receive less than $1 million based on the existing agreements. We must send a straight message to the government that we will not stand idly by when they want to shut down the operations at Bermine and curtail operations at Kwakwani."

Consultant to the bauxite unions, Ramon Gaskin argued: "You cannot re-structure the company by converting debt to equity when no new money is being put into the company... This is not a merger". Quoting from what he said was a confidential document, Gaskin said: "Alcoa intends to take some selective assets and reserves from Bermine and close it down. Even some workers at Aroaima will be affected since the requirement will be 400 employees." Some 480 workers are currently employed at Aroaima.

Gaskin then proposed a resolution, which was unanimously accepted by all present. It described the proposals set out in the 'Alcoa document' as "deficient in many ways particularly in the area of jobs and job losses... This meeting proposes to reject the Alcoa proposal in its present form and calls upon the Guyanese authorities to ensure that in any new arrangement jobs must be secured and Bermine must survive and royalties and taxes be paid on profits."

Meanwhile, sources close to the committee -- co-chaired by Guyana Geology and Mines Commission Chairman, Robeson Benn, and University of Guyana economist, Professor Clive Thomas -- said some of the members were disappointed at the stand taken by the government before the committee had a chance to submit its report. The members said that they were going ahead with their work and hoped to submit their report on time.

As part of its work, the committee had planned to invite three experts in the areas of finance, mining and marketing to get their perspectives, but the sources said that their visits had been put on hold and a tele-conference with them was being explored.

The committee, which was set up as a result of the Jagdeo/Hoyte dialogue process, was given a month to submit its report on Alcoa's proposal to take over the Bermine operations.

Government's association with the Aroaima operations, in which it has a 50 per cent stake, has not been profitable as in the 12 years since the company was established it had paid no dividends.

However, Hinds said that while Aroaima had made profits, these were used to pay the interest on and whittle down the US$60 million that Reynolds -- then the original partner before being taken over by Alcoa -- had advanced the company as start-up financing. He contended that the Alcoa proposal offered the best chance of running the bauxite operations in a sustainable manner.