The Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU) is continuing to oppose attempts by government to dismiss all staff at the soon-to-be-merged Guyana Television Broad-casting Company (GTV) and the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) at month end.

At a press conference at its headquarters yesterday the union's General Secretary, Grantley Culbard, signalled its intention to resist efforts to dismiss the workers and re-hire them on a temporary basis.

According to Culbard, the CCWU is prepared to involve the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), the resuscitated Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and its affiliates overseas in fighting government's "attempt to throw the workers welfare through the window."

CCWU President, Roy Hughes, who shared the head table with Culbard, said that once government gets its way in this matter then it spells disaster for the entire labour movement as other employers will want to follow suit.

According to Hughes, the government has raised hosts of reasons why the workers cannot be retained, while not paying heed to the Termination and Severance Pay Act which says a successor should employ persons on no less favourable terms than they enjoyed on their last job.

He said that the government wanted to sack 177 employees and make 141 positions redundant before creating 100 new posts in the new structure. Most of the new posts would require persons with either degrees or diplomas to gain employment; others will require them to have three to five passes at the GCE or CXC or a technical diploma.

Meanwhile, the CCWU is currently in discussions with the Privatisation Unit (PU) on the modalities of the proposed merger. But the union leader said that these talks have achieved little success. Another meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.

Reading from a prepared statement, Culbard said government is bent on severing all employees of the GBC and GTV on December 31, and re-hiring some of them on January 1, 2004 on contracts for up to two to six months. This is to allow a determination of their suitability for the new merged entity to be called Guyana Television and Broadcasting (GT&B).

According to the union official, after this determination, those meeting the requirements would be given two-year contracts at reduced working conditions from what currently obtains in the two entities. These contracts will include neither a pension scheme nor a medical scheme.

The union has asked Privatisation Unit Head (PU) Winston Brassington to say whether a new collective labour agreement could be discussed and put in place at the new entity and whether recruitment of staff for the new entity could not be done from within the existing entity.

The union also expressed its interest in seeing the workers permanently employed as opposed to being on two-year contracts.

The CCWU also alluded to differences with GTV's General Manager, Mohamed Sattaur, who it said had issued termination notices to several of the television station's employees including its branch chairman Sharon Parris.

According to the statement, the union in discussions with Office of the President staffers Kellawan Lall and Robert Persaud had related its experiences with Sattaur and indicated that the CCWU was against any plan that would see him at the head of the merged entity.

Sattaur, in an invited comment yesterday, said that in a meeting with the union some time ago and subsequently in a letter, he had indicated his intention to suspend all discussions until the outcome of the current merger talks with the PU.

According to Sattaur, the current merger issues had overtaken planned restructuring attempts at GTV, which was why he had suggested that the status quo remain.

An observer told this newspaper that the union is taking an unreasonable position by insisting on continuity and not wanting the staff to receive severance.