GuySuCo workers strike again

Aug 14, 2008 News

…Sugar industry faces significant threat

Soured wage negotiations between the Guyana Sugar Corporation and the Guyana Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) resulted in the grinding operations of four estates being brought to a standstill yesterday when the workers staged another daring strike.
However, workers did not take to the streets but instead just stayed away from work.
The grinding operations at La Bonne Intention, Enmore, Rose Hall and Wales Estate were the ones affected.
This strike is taking place at a time when the conditions are extremely conductive to harvesting.
Close to 4,200 tonnes of sugar was made in the first four days of this week and the strike yesterday would cause 650 tonnes of sugar not to be produced.
At present, the production for the crop is already 13,000 tonnes behind the original estimate due mainly to the inclement weather experienced in the early part of the crop and low turnout of harvesters on most estates.
In a release issued yesterday, GuySuCo stated that about 90 percent of the field and factory workers at LBI, Enmore and Wales estates, and 85 percent of those at Rose Hall did not turn up for work.
The Corporation and GAWU met on Tuesday for the 8th time but failed to reach any agreements.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the corporation’s position was to pay an increase of four and a half percent but the union’s demand was 14¾ percent.
Both parties mutually agreed, the sugar company stated, to continue negotiations either today or tomorrow.
The union yesterday confirmed that the meeting would be held tomorrow.
It was further suggested at Tuesday’s meeting by the corporation that if there is no sign of settlement at the next meeting then it would be procedurally prudent to refer the wage dispute to the next stage, which is conciliation.
The union agreed to this proposal.
According to GuySuCo, based on the agreement at the meeting, the corporation was baffled and disappointed to know that yesterday morning four of the seven operating units were totally shutdown because of the current wage talks.
“This type of industrial action is callous, reckless and totally unjustified. It violates the existing grievance procedure, and defies the spirit of the negotiating atmosphere that has been in good faith so far. At the conclusion of yesterday’s (Tuesday) meeting, there wasn’t any intimation or notice that there would be any strike on any location; as such the estates burnt adequate amount of canes for work today (yesterday),” the sugar company said.
The corporation is in a serious predicament over the huge impact of the EU-imposed price cut, and the high costs associated with fuel, freight and fertilizers. GuySuCo is contractually obligated to supply its main European customer with 55,000 tonnes of sugar by September 5.
Failing to meet this obligation, the corporation would lose US$70 per tonne of sugar not supplied by the date to the particular market.
To date, the corporation has shipped 16,400 of the 55,000 tonnes.
Even as the strike is taking place, a vessel is waiting to load some 7,200 tonnes at the Demerara Sugar Terminal and another vessel is expected tomorrow.
If these vessels do not leave on the scheduled time, the corporation would have to incur additional expense on demurrage.
This year, GuySuCo stands to lose close to G$1.2B in revenue due to the price cut.
Increasing production and improving on operational efficiencies are the only ways that the full effect of these draconian cuts could be mitigated.
The corporation is encouraging its workers to allow ‘good judgment’ and ‘sense’ to prevail, and to allow full and complete application of the negotiation and grievance procedure in the current dispute.

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GuySuCo workers strike again

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