PUBLIC SERVANTS 5%; DISCIPLINED SERVICES 5%; TEACHERS 6%; SUGAR WORKERS 0%.

Dec 09, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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It is not looking like a good Christmas at all for the workers in the sugar industry. There is no offer as yet from the sugar corporation to the workers for increased wages for 2010; there is not likely to be any.
In fact, things could get worse. Workers in the industry can end up not receiving any Annual Production Incentive and would instead have to settle for a two-week one-off payment. Even after the dismal performance of the industry in 1991, workers did receive an API. The bottom line seems as if there will be no increase for 2010 and no API.
In the meantime, it has been announced that public servants and members of the Disciplined Services are going to receive a five per cent increase for 2010. Teachers have already been paid their five per cent in accordance with a five-year agreement between the GTU and the government. But they are to receive an additional one per cent, in lieu of some payment that is due to them. For 2010, teachers will therefore receive a six per cent increase on their salaries.
For sugar workers, the situation is bleak. And this dimness is going to extend to businesses within sugar producing areas that rely on the purchasing power of sugar workers to keep them afloat.
The sugar corporation has indicated that it is unable to pay any increases this year because of declining production. The anticipated production for this year is expected to be the lowest since 1991. This alone should signal that something is radically wrong for sugar to have reached this stage, especially after the massive US$187M that was pumped into the industry for the construction of a new factory at Skeldon.
Among the factors given for this year’s decline was the poor turnout of workers said to be just over 50 per cent. But the workers must not take all the blame. For sugar production to have declined so appreciably means that there are other problems and perhaps now is the time for the government to do an independent assessment of what is going wrong with the sugar industry.
The government may not be receiving the right information. It may be listening to the corporation that may be giving its side. It may be listening to labour who may be giving its side also. .
It would not take a great deal of resources for the government to appoint an investigative team of experts drawn from sugar producing countries of the world, to examine just what is going wrong with the turn-around plan.
That plan is now aptly named. It has turned around and gone its own way. It is no longer heading in the direction of the sugar corporation. Instead of a turnaround plan, what we have is a plan that has turned its back on the industry and has not produced the results anticipated.
A number of questions are going to be asked of this plan. Is it premised on high labour turnout? And if so, what are the numbers on which the plan is premised?
If there is poor worker turnout it can only mean that there is a shortage of labour and this needs to be investigated. At the same time, if the present crop of workers is proving unreliable, then an aggressive recruitment needs to be done while greater emphasis is placed on mechanization.
Sugar production has failed the country, the corporation and more importantly it has failed the workers, many of whom may not be able to afford the traditional Christmas meal this year.
It is sad to know that sugar workers have no increases to obtain this year and this is depressing considering what happened last year when the arbitration ruling gave a pittance to the workers.
If increased production has to be based on increased salaries for workers, then there needs before any new target is set for next year for a scientific assessment of the state of the industry and whether it is the poor turnout and the weather alone that are responsible for the present financial affairs of the corporation.
It is also clear that the turnaround plan is not working and needs to be analyzed to see where it’s needs weaking. These are things, which should be done immediately.
The government may believe that it knows the true causes to the problem. It no doubt believed this when it developed the turnaround plan. Now that the plan has turned back, it is time to have an independent assessment of the industry so that sugar workers can be set a realistic target next year and not be asked to do the impossible, and more importantly not have to shoulder the blame for the overall state of the industry.
The sugar workers must demand an independent probe into the industry. They must no longer put their faith in the bargaining ability of their union. They must summon the collective strength to demand a probe into the industry and perhaps a salary slash for the top executives.

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