Workers vow to have fired colleagues reinstated

Aug 20, 2010 News

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Skeldon workers, on a two-day strike over the firing of four of the colleagues, have agreed to end their action and were expected to return to work last night.
According to Chief Executive Officer (ag) of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Paul Bhim, management of the Skeldon estate will now be prepared to talk to the workers and the unions.
On Wednesday, skeleton staff comprising senior officials and others managed to grind several hundred punts of cane which were harvested but faced the threat of being damaged.
GuySuCo had faced the prospect of losing more than $40M if the cane had spoilt, Bhim said yesterday.
Yesterday, several of the factory workers on strike were gathered in front of the Skeldon estate and while they agreed to return to work last evening, blasted management and said the decision to send home the workers, including a Shift Manager, was an arbitrary one.
The factory workers went on strike since Tuesday.
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.
The workers claimed that there were no fire alarms on the estate and there was only one fireman. Before, there were three of these workers on a shift. They also claimed that the number of fire extinguishers was inadequate and incapable of handling a significant fire, the magnitude of which occurred earlier this month.
“The General Manager and the higher authorities must take the blame for what happen and they are trying to put the blame on the smaller workers… we are the scapegoats,” said one factory worker yesterday.
Herman Kissoon, the fireman on duty the night of the fire, and one of those dismissed, said that he received word of the fire around 03:00 hrs while he was on duty in another section of the factory. The worker said, when he got the message, he raced to where the alarm came from.
The workers claimed that there was no water in the hose system. By that time the fire was getting bigger and help was sought from the Guyana Fire Service.
Plant Foreman, Vishnu Jagnarine, said that he was nowhere around when the fire occurred. He had worked the shift before and had left the premises some nine hours before the fire started. He said he was informed by the engineer around 03:15 hrs that there was a fire at the estate. He immediately went to the location where he assisted in quelling the fire.
Workers’ representatives, Mangal and Jagdat Mohabir, were adamant that the workers were wrongfully dismissed and said that the union will not accept what was done to the workers. “They were not given a hearing… at no time were they a part of any investigation (the worker or the union) as to the cause of the fire. The workers were not given a letter. They were only told that they were either dismissed or suspended and they should leave.”
Chairman of GuySuCo, Dr. Nanda Gopaul, on Wednesday, was clear in his message to the 100-plus factory who downed tools on Monday to protest the dismissal of four employees, “no talks until work is resumed”.
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 (Wednesday 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 cane until there were assurances it would be processed.
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.
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 was clear that the blaze actually started much earlier than the time it was first reported – in fact, 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 occurred 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.”
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Businessman held with illegal 9mm at roadblock

A businessman was arrested on Wednesday night after police unearthed a 9mm Glock pistol with 10 matching rounds on his person.
The man was apprehended at a roadblock at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara , around 21:30 hours. According to reports, police at the roadblock became suspicious after the businessman was found to be unlicenced to drive the motor car he was in. They then carried out checks on his person and discovered the firearm.
But according to Divisional Commander Gavin Primo, the man then produced a document purporting that it was the licence for the firearm he was carrying.
“He produced something that looks like a licence but upon closer scrutiny it gave reason for further suspicion,” Primo told this newspaper.
He said that the number on the licence did not match the weapon the businessman was carrying.
According to Primo, the document belongs to another licence holder.
Police are expected to locate the authentic licence firearm holder to sort out the controversy.
Kaieteur News understands that the businessman was previously a licenced firearm holder but his licence was subsequently revoked.
The man is reportedly in custody assisting with further investigations.

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