GuySuCo effectively rules out wage increase for 2010

Dec 10, 2010 News

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– admits production will miss mark “by some margin”

The likelihood of sugar workers being paid an increase along with an Annual Production Incentive (API) before Christmas has been effectively ruled out by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
In a statement Wednesday, the Corporation said that from projections, it would be in a better position to pay next year.
“Had the Corporation met its revised target, it would have been in a position to pay a wage increase and the Annual Production Incentive. However, this is not a current reality. But with budgeted production set to improve significantly in 2011, the Corporation is confident that with the resulting improved cash flow this would generate, it will have no hesitation in rewarding the workers by offering a decent wages and salaries increase.”
“The Corporation firmly believes that the workers being a major player in the industry must be fairly compensated providing it has the ability to pay.”
The announcement comes even as workers were hoping that the largest union of the industry, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), would have achieved some measure of success in ongoing wage increase talks.
However, that possibility has dwindled with GuySuCo yesterday confirming that the industry is set to fall way short of its revised targets.
On Tuesday, GuySuCo said that it had postponed harvesting and grinding of over 400,000 tonnes of cane that would have produced 31,000 tonnes of sugar. This was due mainly to heavy rains that hampered the process.
The following day, as accusations continued between GuySuCo and GAWU, the Corporation said it was “bemused at the constant comments by the President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Mr. Komal Chand of blaming the Skeldon factory for the entire industry not meeting its revised production target of 264,000 tonnes for 2010.”
GuySuCo stated that Chand’s continuous comments along this path have implications, particularly in light of the fragile industrial relations climate currently.
The Corporation pointed out that despite the one-week industry-wide strike called by GAWU, Skeldon was the only factory that continued to grind throughout the period and apart from the technical problems, production would have been much higher barring work stoppages throughout the year due to strikes and the wet weather.
“Based on what has been outlined, one is left to ponder his ongoing allegation that the Corporation “is hiding the facts”, more so since the Corporation had pointed out in its earlier statement that an agreement had been reached with the contractor of the factory, CNTIC, where all the remaining defects will be corrected by January 2011, with the exception of the Number 1 Boiler which is scheduled for completion by June 30th next year.”
Currently, industry-wide production figures are hovering around the 210,000-tonne mark and with two weeks remaining for the closure of the crop, coupled with the intense wet weather and the fact that worker turnout continues to remain the same, it is clear that the industry will not make its target by some margin, notwithstanding the fact that there are enough canes in the ground, the Corporation said yesterday.
“Despite our pleadings, the union had gone ahead and called an industry wide one-week strike without any notification at such a crucial juncture. This as we had indicated, further contributed to crippling the financial position of the Corporation as the strike and its knock on effects resulted in valuable opportunity time being lost which could have allowed the Corporation to produce 8,000 tonnes sugar from which badly needed cash ($900M) could have been earned. The strike also had the effect of leaving canes which were ready for harvesting in the fields even longer resulting in lower sucrose content and lost sugar.”
GuySuCo also expressed worry about “Chand’s revelation that workers will not seek to strike during this current period when production is hampered by the wet weather, rather they will seek to continue their actions at the start of production next year.”
Such a disclosure to affect sugar production at a time when the Corporation has the best opportunity to make up for the losses incurred since the 2005 floods, flies in the face of constant denials by GAWU that its actions have not contributed in affecting the viability of the industry over the past few years, the statement said.
“The Corporation is left to ponder the rationale for GAWU contemplating such action to hamper production in 2011, at a period when the industry may be in a better position to offer a decent wage increase to its workers.”
The cash-strapped entity has recently said it asked government for a $2B bailout to pay creditors and suppliers and have rescheduled a number of payments.
A cut in price from Europe, Guyana’s biggest customer, coupled with a low worker turnout have all contributed to what is turning out to be another dismal year for GuySuCo, despite more canes in the ground now than in the last five years.

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