Unions object to GuySuCo totally closing LBI operations

Apr 15, 2016 News

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– corporation says move is to “consolidate”
The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has announced plans to start moving the LBI estate

operations to Enmore, East Coast of Demerara, but the move is not going down well with the unions.
According to the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), a delegation met with GuySuCo officials on Tuesday to discuss finalizing the integration of the East Demerara estates.
The unions say the closure of the LBI operations would result in over 800 workers being deployed to Enmore estate.
“It is doubtful that the deployed workers would be offered regular and full work at Enmore as is the present case at LBI. In this regard, account must be taken that similar operations at Enmore Estate have their own full complement of employees, a situation likened to that at Uitvlugt, where Wales Estate workers are to be channeled according to a statements by high-placed authorities, and promised regular, permanent employment.”
The unions complained that at the meeting, the corporation did not inform the unions when the operations are to be closed, nor was vital information about the employees’ future given.
“It is a similar experience to that of Wales where the company, to date, has failed to provide full information on the status of the future of 1,700 workers from Wales Estate.”
But GuySuCo’s Finance Director, Paul Bhim, noted that LBI factory has been closed for a number of years now.
“The factory is already closed. We are consolidating the field and other administrative operations with Enmore where the factory is. The fields required to grow canes will still be doing that.”
The union delegation to Tuesday’s meeting with GuySuCo included shop stewards of Enmore and LBI Estates.
“The corporation at the meeting informed the two unions that the company has decided to have the operations of the Field Workshop, Mill Dock, Field Lab, Stores, and Administrative Offices that are based at LBI Estate be merged with similar operations at Enmore Estate during this year,” a statement from the two unions said yesterday.
Both bodies said that the announcement came as a surprise.

“When the LBI factory was closed and its workers were transferred to Enmore factory, both unions were assured by a member of the current Interim Management that there will be no closure of any other department after the closure of the factory. Thus, it was never expected that the corporation under the same management could decide to dismantle the costly buildings at LBI Estate, and end the operations which it approved about five years ago.”
The unions believed that from the explanations by GuySuCo, it could be concluded that the areas being closed would essentially mean the closure of the entire estate.
“LBI will thereby cease to exist. The company, in effect, is using the term “consolidation” as a guise for the complete closure of LBI.”
The unions drew a parallel to the consolidation of Wales estate.
“It is recalled that on January 20, 2016 when GuySuCo officially advised the unions on the Wales Estate closure and in keeping with the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act Section 12(3)(b) that it would meet with the union to fulfill the one month’s notice period regarding the workers who would be deployed to Uitvlugt Estate and those who would be made redundant.”
The unions said that GuySuCo, however, did not meet the two unions, and on March 22, 2016, the Corporation informed GAWU that 105 workers are to be made redundant.
“Prior to the corporation’s letter, 15 workers were deployed to Uitvlugt Estate and 67 temporary workers were deprived of their jobs without any compensation. It is to be noted that these actions are being taken before December 31, 2016 – the date announced by the Ministry of Agriculture for the closure of Wales Estate.”
The unions were adamant that the actions violate the law and norms of such situation.
GuySuCo, a state-owned company, has fallen on hard times and facing financial difficulties.
It has for over a decade been falling behind production targets with consecutive Governments being forced to plug billions of dollars annually to keep it afloat.
The David Granger administration had sacked the entire board and its boss, Dr. Raj Singh, when it took office last year May.
The industry managed to reach its annual target for the first time in a decade, at the end of 2015.
This year, as part of the cost-cutting measures, GuySuCo has announced plans also to consolidate and close its oldest factory, at Wales and shift operations to Uitvlugt.
However, the unions have been against the closures and have held protest actions and vigils.
“Our unions are wary and concerned about the fate of the LBI workers. GAWU and NAACIE are hopeful that the unsavory and oppressive situation at Wales is not repeated, and call on GuySuCo to revisit its decision on the full closure of LBI. The unions reiterate their commitment to stand by the workers and will defend their rights that are protected by local and international labour laws,” the statement said yesterday.

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