Skeleton staff prepares to grind harvested cane

Aug 19, 2010 News

---

By Leonard Gildarie

In a bid to save over 650 punts of harvested cane, a skeleton staff at the new Skeldon sugar estate was last evening getting ready to operate the facilities, as factory workers continued their strike action for a second day.
Chairman of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Dr. Nanda Gopaul, was yesterday clear in his message to the 100-plus factory who downed tools Monday to protest the dismissal of four employees, “no talks until work is resumed”.
However, the factory workers who stayed away yesterday from the estate, have vowed not to return until management of Skeldon says that it will reinstate their four colleagues.
The workers are expected to gather at the estate this morning to hear what their union representatives will be advising.
According to the Chairman, by moving to strike actions, workers immediately breached the Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) which spells how grievances can be addressed.
“I am very disturbed by the breaches in CLA and in the industrial relations procedures. We have taken steps to grind the harvested canes to prevent spoilage, and we will be doing so this evening (last night).”
The official made it clear that GuySuCo and management of the Skeldon estate would be willing to have dialogue, as long as workers return to their duties.
With factory workers on strike, harvesting work was also affected with management unwilling to bring in more punts of canes until there are assurances it will be processed.
The strike action stemmed from a fire on August 7 in the factory’s bagasse plant on a number of conveyor belts.
Four persons, including the senior Shift Manager, the Boiler Engineer and a Belt Attendant were among those fired.
Five other persons, including two senior officials were also suspended.
Yesterday, President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), Komal Chand, disclosed that “nothing has changed” from Tuesday when the strike had commenced.
“As you know, the workers are determined not to return to work and management of the estate want them to return to duty. We will continue to meet with them and see a way forward.”
On Tuesday, GuySuCo issued a statement calling for workers to return to work since harvesting was in full swing.
The Corporation disclosed that an investigation into the fire found gross negligence which resulted in the fire not being detected early, and it is estimated that millions of dollars will now have to be spent to repair the damage.
A total of nine employees were disciplined over the fire and there are questions now as to how staffers who were supposed to be on duty did not see the flames until hours later.
GuySuCo, in pointing out that the incident occurred on the same day the estate was slated to commence its second crop production for the year, disclosed that based on the extent of the damage, it is clear that the blaze actually started much earlier than the time it was first reported -three hours earlier.
“A full investigation was conducted which revealed that the incident resulted because of gross negligence, caused extensive damage where remedial work will cost millions of dollars, coupled with the loss of three days’ production.”
Following the investigation, GuySuCo said it took disciplinary action against employees, both managerial and non-managerial.
However, factory workers on Tuesday decided to strike against the decision to dismiss their colleagues.
Not all of the employees who were disciplined are part of GAWU, with some of them part of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE).
According to GuySuCo, the strike action by the factory workers is at a most inopportune time, when there is a very large crop – 480,000 tonnes of cane – to be harvested “which has already been affected by poor weather and a 2nd crop production target of 34,000 tonnes of sugar for the Skeldon factory.”
“Management respects the procedure of engaging workers in keeping with the established principles of the grievance procedure and as such management is willing to do same, providing that there is a resumption of work.”
The Corporation noted that there are over 650 punts of cane ready to be crushed, which will yield approximately 4,000 tonnes of sugar.
“The Corporation once again reaffirms its call for workers to ensure they seek to solve their concerns through dialogue with officials before resorting to strike action, so as to ensure that critical opportunity days for harvesting and production are not lost, more so because of the current weather pattern and the significant amount of canes to be harvested across the industry.”
With the sugar industry still in a precarious state because of low prices and poor production, the fire and now the strike are things that GuySuCo could ill-afford now.
Already, GuySuCo had revised its target for the year from 280,000 tonnes of sugar to just over 260,000 tonnes.
***************************

GPF’s Annual Youth Camp concludes

The closing ceremony for the Police Wives’ Annual Youth Camp was held yesterday at the Kuru Kuru Cooperative College, Linden Highway.
One-hundred and seventy-six (176) children between the ages of eight to twelve years attended the five-day activity, which was held under the theme “Moulding the minds of the youths for a better tomorrow”.
Yesterday’s occasion was graced by the Commissioner of Police Henry Greene, and other top ranking officers of the Force.
The predominantly youthful gathering was entertained by some of the participants by way of songs, dances, modeling, skits and poems.
Meanwhile, monetary rewards were presented by Commissioner Greene, to outstanding performers. They also received plaques and certificates.
In delivering the feature address, Commissioner Greene noted that the camp had grown in numbers since its inception four years ago, and he expressed the hope that the children would have learnt from the many activities that were offered at the camp.
Green emphasized to the participants that during the camping period, young scouts who would have made new acquaintances, and they must be cognizant that after leaving camp, friendships would have been formed, and this would assist with their development.

---

---