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Work nowadays is not within easy reach of most of us in Guyana

Apr 07, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
It does not appear that the current Board of Guysuco will ever be able to turn around the industry without very serious measures being taken. To date we are witnessing the harassment of the Board by both political and union forces which are combining to perhaps make the government’s efforts of the turn around fail.
I feel that if alternative work has been arranged for the 300 workers at Wales and the 40 workers at Enmore, then they should avail themselves of the opportunity. Work nowadays is not within easy reach of most of us here in Guyana. I personally know of quite a few courageous persons who have much commuting to do each day of the week. I would admit that one does not readily like the idea of traveling far distances and then have to put in an 8 hours of arduous work for the day.
I myself have had to travel long distances in order to get to the workplace each day while I lived in a country where most Guyanese desire to go. Locally I still travel long distances most days of the week going as far as Bartica, Charity, and Corriverton most days of the week. The union, workers and their political associates must realise that Guysuco is not any longer in its favoured position as in years gone by. Only recently the European Union has given notice of decreased quotas and reduced prices for their new fiscal year.
Since the workers are refusing to turn up for work when they have been given specific assignments, I feel that what they are doing is signaling that they have quit. When a man quits he is not entitled to severance payments. I believe that they should have at least tried out the new work for a week or two before protesting. Then they would have been able to draw to management’s attention whatever difficulties they would have faced. Only then could proper talks about finding remedies could have been entertained.
In the circumstances, I feel that the government if it is desirous of saving the industry, should send out an appeal to the authorities of fellow Caricom country Haiti and actively recruit, say, 400 labourers for the harvesting of cane. These persons would have been recently chased out of their cane harvesting jobs in Santo Domingo, and they would relish the idea of guaranteed work here in Guyana. This could be looked at as a short gap measure in order to mitigate imminent losses. These workers could come in to Guyana each year as temporary farm workers until we got the industry back up in good shape.
Guysuco should understand that factories that work a mere 6 months for the year are not adequate enough. All factories should be made to work at least 9 months in the year and thus improve profitability. It will mean rearranging how we plant canes so that enough fields are available for reaping in order to have a longer season. Factory downtime is too long and this can in no way be profitable. The shift to just a few factories working is not bad but we must ensure that we get optimum production from the units that would be left running. Then, too, more bagasse would be produced for co-generation purposes.
Lastly the management personnel of Guysuco should understand that their fringes and even pay should now be subject to cuts in keeping with ensuring that the cash flow of the company is not unduly burdened at this time. These cuts should be undertaken for an initial 2 years period. A brand new culture is needed in the operations of Guysuco and all and sundry must understand this. The union’s recalcitrance coupled with the pigheadedness of their political associates will only speed up the demise of the industry. When the industry dies so too will the union and their political associates.
Cyril Walker

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