Most live on reservations and in villages in remote parts of the interior. The Amerindian Act gives indigenous groups title to their land but without subsoil rights. Native American groups complain that the government is selling mining and logging concessions in Guyana s immense rain forest without regard for the land rights of native peoples. The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs is considered weak and ineffectual by Native rights groups. Domestic violence against women is troubling, as is the government s reluctance to address the issue.
Labor unions are well-organized.
In 1995 the government sought to dilute the right to strike among some public sector unions. Companies are not obligated to recognize unions in former state enterprises sold off by the government.