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SAJ Rice Mill sacks 17
– workers protest outside Ministry of Social Protection
The Ministry of Social Protection (formerly the Labour Ministry) on Friday morning attracted some of the sacked SAJ Rice Company Limited workers, their friends and union leaders, each with placards in hands held high, depicting their disgust and anger with the way their labour dispute was handled.
Protestors in front of the Ministry of Social Protection.
The workers are claiming that they were wrongfully dismissed by the company who they also claimed failed to give them adequate notice.
The SAJ Rice Mill Company Limited located at Burma, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara is a milling company that mills and exports rice. The company is owned by Haitians and Columbians Agencies.
“Despite the fact that there has been a change of political administration, they are still employers in this country who are prepared to continue to violate the rights of workers with impunity and to treat workers contemptuously,” said one protestor.
President of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) Norris Witter sent a clear message to other employers whether state, private, local or foreign that workers will not condone “these atrocities” any longer.
Witter also mentioned, “We are determining to exercise our militancy and bring an end to all acts of violation against workers of this country. The rights at work are a non-negotiable item.”
The cause of the demonstrations began two weeks ago when employees of the said company approached the Union to inquire about its operations. However the General Workers Union (GWU) visited the worksite on July 31 and management responded on August 3 with their letters of termination.
The company claimed redundancy as the grounds for the workers’ dismissals, Witter explained.
Witter stressed that the termination of Employment and Severance of PAY Act chapter 98:08 stipulates that employers must inform the Labour Ministry before they dismiss any unrepresented union worker.
The protestors managed to gain an audience with Minister Volda Lawrence and Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle. The Minister however, reassured that Government Officials are currently engaged with the matter in keeping with the law.
The distraught workers promised to hold the Minister to her words.
One of the affected workers in an interview with Kaieteur News claimed that the Company is “showing its true colours”.
Another protestor said that he had to undergo surgery and when he went back to work he was told that he had to start over from scratch and would not be paid for the previous months.
Efforts to contact SAJ Rice Company for a comment proved futile.
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