Changing sugar workers in a declining industry

Nov 27, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
The Guysuco COI may have found that many of the industry’s problems are linked to changes in the local labour market which affect the quantity of labour available, the price of labour, and the quality of workers that the sugar industry can attract and retain. When labour costs accounts for more than two-thirds of all production costs, and labour-productivity continues to decline it is indeed time that serious thought be given to how workers in the sugar industry behave, what influences their actions and how best their labour can be put to use.
First, the global demand for cane sugar and the price that markets are willing to pay have both plummeted. This makes it necessary to pursue operational changes that can lead to improvements in cost efficiencies. Secondly, the sugar industry’s place of prominence in our own society has been eroded, to the point that its existence matters only to those who have vested interests or are emotionally tied to it. A whole generation has grown up not wanting anything to do with sugar, regarding it as just too much hard work. That is evident from the age-profiles of the industry’s workers, which indicates that much of the work continues to be done by an aging workforce, among whom the rate of natural attrition is understandably high. Third, inflation has diminished the purchasing power of salaries and wages paid in the sugar industry. This is compounded by seasonality in employment and remuneration, which ultimately affects workers’ abilities to enjoy a higher standard of living, and to save for future needs. Sugar now has to compete with other industries for labour.
The ethical values of workers in the sugar industry have changed over time, much the same as societal values have changed. The sugar worker of today is a completely different person from the sugar worker of times gone when sugar was “king”, and to have the same expectations of today’s workers, as one may have had of workers decades ago, can prove to be foolhardy. The sugar worker today is a more informed but detached person, only interested in earning a “quick dollar” for a minimum of effort, and not overly concerned about the welfare of the organization which he / she sees only as a provider of employment benefits. The objective of such a person is to get in and out of the cultivations, factories and offices as quickly as one could, and doing just the minimum to pass the working day. Amongst today’s workers there is not much regard for authority, discipline, team work or even care for the organization’s property.
Today’s managers spend more of their time dealing with labour-related problems than pursuing innovative practices that can benefit the industry. For some managers every day is one of managing a series of crises, fighting fire so to speak. The result has been that for many years, estates continued to fall behind in their annual programmes while expenditure continued to climb.
One may be tempted to ask about what encouraged such vast changes in work ethics within the company. This shift in workers’ attitude and commitment is undoubtedly linked to the militancy of their trade union, and the past gains the union would have won for them. Historically, sugar workers have largely been an impoverished class, but could it be that by being a little too accommodating of union demands, even when it could not afford to do so, the sugar industry has actually become the victim of the very people it was kept alive for?
Khemraj Tulsie

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