Sugar workers picket estates for increase, API payment

Dec 18, 2015 News

Sugar workers, this week, picketed several of the estates in Berbice and Demerara to push for a salary increase and payment of the annual production incentive (API).
According to the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), workers are not surrendering their right to a wage rise and an API award in keeping with past awards.
They have been picketing outside the Administrative Offices and pay offices of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) across the industry.

Sugar workers picketing at Wales estate

Picketing exercises have taken place at Wales, Enmore, Albion and Blairmont Estates, at Rose Hall and Uitvlugt Estates.
“The periodic protests undoubtedly will, in all likelihood, roll over into the New Year as the workers are highly demotivated at this time by the treatment they are experiencing by the authorities. They feel justifiably that they have been singled out for discrimination notwithstanding the acknowledgement of their hard and dedicated work which has led to the industry breaking new records including the surpassing of the Corporation’s production target for the first time in eleven (11) years,” GAWU said yesterday.
According to the union, with the “pittance” API award to be paid until March next year, it wrote the Minister of Finance on Tuesday requesting that the $50,000 Christmas bonus award to public sector employees be awarded also to the sugar workers who are also employees of a state-owned enterprise.
“After all, GuySuCo and the Government must know that sugar workers have families including children too. The GAWU awaits the minister’s response.”

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