Latest update December 23rd, 2024 3:40 AM
GuySuCo’s financial position helped influence award- Arbitrator
Norman McLean
The current downward trend in the state of the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) economy is one of the factors that influenced the arbitration panel, in the wages dispute, to go light on the company.
In an interview with Kaieteur News, one of the members of the three-man panel, Major General (Ret’d) Norman Mc Lean, said that the economics of the situation made it very difficult to award fully in the workers’ favour.
“No matter how you feel about the workers demand…it makes no sense to award something that cannot be sustained and which will destroy the company and put people out of work.”
Major General Mc Lean, who is also the Human Resources Manager of Bosai Mining, admitted that the sugar company is not as efficient as it should be, noting that that factor was also taken into consideration when the panel made its decision.
“We also took into consideration that even during the negotiations the workers called a strike, something that is not in keeping with the normal code of conduct and practices,” he told Kaieteur News.
Last Saturday, the tribunal set up to deal with the wages dispute between GuySuCo and Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GÁWU) ruled that the sugar company pay $1.3B to its workers as a six percent across the board payment.
This sum also includes a further 2.1 percent one-off payment to workers as a cost of living adjustment for 2008.
However, given GuySuCo’s financial constraints, the company has been given until March 2009 to pay the living adjustment to workers.
The company has already announced that while they will have to abide by the ruling of the tribunal, there will be serious complications, among them acquiring the money to pay the sum.
On the other hand, President of GAWU, Komal Chand, has publicly stated the decision of the tribunal has fallen short of the expectations of the Union and the workers.
He stated that GuySuCo is ‘going to the pits’, adding that the future of the industry is ‘bleak’. The tribunal was led by Deputy Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Dr. Gobind Ganga.
Other members of the team were Attorney-at-law Cecil Seepersaud and Major General (ret’d) Norman McLean.
Soured wage negotiations between the company and GAWU resulted in workers taking industrial action which lasted for almost four weeks. Both sides are bound by the decision of the arbitration panel.
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