Sugar workers in countrywide strike to demand pay hike

Oct 18, 2016 News

Sugar workers across the industry yesterday engaged in strike action, calling on the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) to engage the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) in

Sugar workers picketing at the Blairmont, Berbice estate yesterday.

“good faith bargaining” with respect to improvements in pay and conditions of work.
According to GAWU, at a meeting on Thursday last, the corporation was non-committal on the issue of pay rise.
“When asked pointedly whether provisions had been made for improvements in pay, GuySuCo’s representative said none had been made, but adjustments could be made to facilitate an increase.
The union and the workers are apprehensive that the corporation is once again seeking to deny a pay rise for 2016.”
GAWU said that the workers have rightly pointed out that unlike other state workers who have benefitted and will benefit from pay rises in 2015 and 2016, though those increases fell below their expectations, the sugar workers have been excluded, and are seemingly being deemed as ‘second class citizens’.
“It can be safe to say that the standard-of-living of the sugar workers and their families have deteriorated in the face of the rising cost-of-living. We remind that the Ministry of Finance’s 2016 Mid-Year Report pointed out that food prices rose by 3.2 per cent in the first half of this year.”
GAWU noted that while the sugar corporation sees the wisdom and necessity to invest and improve its physical capital, similar and even greater emphasis needs to be placed on its workers – its human capital.
“Our union recognises that the GuySuCo’s seeming stance to deny pay rises to the workers is having a debilitating effect on morale and commitment in the industry, important elements for the industry’s turnaround.”
GAWU claimed that at this time too, workers are aware that employment costs in the industry are expected to be slashed by as much as $2.5B, a staggering 13 per cent, this year, while, at the same time, the “top-most echelon of the corporation’s hierarchy are benefitting to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars annually.”
”They noted these developments, disadvantageous to workers, are occurring at a time of improving sugar prices, better productivity and some progress in the industry’s financial standing. The workers also used today’s protest to register, once more, their strong disagreement over the decision to close Wales Estate and to express their solidarity with their compatriots.” GAWU said that its members are convinced that the closure decision is a step in the wrong direction and will condemn the thousands – workers, spouses, children and other near ones – who are dependent on that estate’s operations, to unimaginable hardships and misery.
“Workers also raised their voices against the rollback of time-honoured and long-standing practices such as GuySuCo’s denial of paid-release for workers to attend the Union’s Congress and union meetings; the denying of workers to attend Union-sponsored courses during the cropping periods; the denial of transportation assistance for workers to attend union activities; the withdrawal of pro-rated Weekly Production Incentive (WPI) awards; the denial of Collective Bargaining in 2015; a pitiful 2015 API award, among other things.”
To highlight their concerns, workers staged a number of picketing exercises outside the Administrative Offices of the various estates in Demerara and Berbice, bearing placards.
The union urged GuySuCo to engage in good-faith negotiations with the view to find a reasonable settlement to the workers’ pay rise question this year.
”Continuing dialogue will be necessary to address the other concerns of the workers. The current approach is not helpful to the process and can very well lead to greater disharmony and discontent among the workers and we implore the corporation, and those who give direction, to quickly abandon this course.”

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