These cash trapped corporations should reduce their bureaucracy and large overheads

Dec 30, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
Sugar Workers are once again being punished for the incompetence of others. There has been no statistics to show that the rank and file workers of GuySuCo are responsible for the financial mess GuySuCo has found itself in.
Management is quick to point to strikes, but any fair and realistic analysis will reveal that losses from strikes are minimal as after the strike the cane in the fields are reaped. GuySuCo must say why they close the crops early at certain estates if it is not due to lack of cane.
Publish the Vic Oudit report that was commissioned by the Minister of Agriculture and the world will see the incompetence, nay, criminal negligence of management.
Government made Booker Tate the scapegoat and kicked them out, but they invited and employed a Booker Tate executive as the CEO; so one left by the back door while one was coming through the front door.
The Minister of Agriculture said that management must make sacrifices, but he didn’t say what kind. Would they be asked to take a salary cut, enjoy less perks, we are waiting to hear and see.
Workers struggle to make ends meet, but management live in style, free house, water electricity, company vehicle, chauffeur etc.
Last year Ganga gave sugar workers 5%; the Government doubled and gave public servants 10%. This year Ganga gave 3%, the government doubled and gave public servants 6%. Anyone who says that public servants work twice as hard as sugar workers, needs to have his head examined.
Ganga said that GuySuCo reduced its target and the reduced budget provides for 3%, but he didn’t say why the target was reduced. Was it the workers who asked for its reduction or was it management’s incompetence – the whole country, except the arbitrators, know the answer.
Enter Nadir, who as usual puts his foot in his mouth, speaking arrogantly as customary.
GAWU must take some blame for allowing the workers to strike, thus, playing into Government’s hand. They should have followed the grievance procedure and go to arbitration under the CLA, where they had to agree to the composition of the tribunal. But, for the second year they allowed Government to impose Ganga on them.
The press said GAWU nominated Yog Mahadeo. I would like not to believe that the union will nominate the Finance Director of a big multinational company for he can have no sympathy for the ordinary workers. The other member has to take directions from the Minister of Finance, who had the circular for public servants increase already prepared, awaiting the GuySuCo award.
GuySuCo speaks about a turn around plan. I ask, how can the persons who destroyed the industry be able to bring it back to viability? A big noise was made about management changes – but all they did was change some designations and reshuffle the pack. When you go to shuffle a pack of cards you remove the jokers, but they reshuffled the pack with the jokers inside.
Sugar workers are being hammered all around, even by Lincoln Lewis, and Robeson Benn, whose hammer is light compared to the hammer used on the sugar workers.
Last weekend I saw three persons from the pack on TV; one said he is the Deputy CEO; with such an expensive CEO, why you need a Deputy for?
The moderator said he is the Senior Communications Officer – well if you have a senior, there must be juniors plus maybe a chief, plus support staff – a whole department to tell Guyanese that GuySuCo is bankrupt. If you don’t have money why keep unimportant staff – send them home and use the money to resuscitate the industry unless you want to fool the people.
It’s the same with GPL – a manager being paid nearly $3 million a month and a ‘Propaganda Department’ every day telling people about blackout – using the nice-word – outages – and stealing of electricity. We don’t need to be told about blackout and who stealing electricity. Kaieteur News said many times that they steal because they don’t intend to pay; so preaching on the TV would not help. Close the department.
It’s the same at GWI. Recently the PRO said that we should not open the tap to wash our mouths, but we should use cups, a step back in history.
In addition to these corporations funding these departments, they also have to pay the TV stations to show their propaganda.
Private companies don’t have such machinery, their PR, if necessary, is done by their Personnel Department.
These cash trapped corporations should reduce their bureaucracy and large overheads instead of hammering workers.
R. Bhagwandin

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These cash trapped corporations should reduce their bureaucracy and large overheads

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