It is undeniable that the dynamics in the sugar industry are changing

Jan 28, 2018 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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It is undeniable that the dynamics in the sugar industry are changing. Off the bat, it is that the political chains that allowed for the pull and push of some 16,000 members of the voting public is being released. It is the beginning of the independence of the industry and its workers though their ability to sustain themselves.
It might be a long and tedious task but in the end, all sides will win. It was a bold and daring move by a newly elected government to restructure an entire industry depending mainly on the cooperation of all stakeholders to make it happen, knowing very well the political climate in which they exist and knowing that despite what might be in store, persons would not take mildly not even the idea of losing their jobs. But it had to be done. To liberate the economy, to liberate the industry, and most importantly to liberate the people from financial and political arrest.
It’s been stated ad nauseam the amount of programs, workshops, counseling, coaching and other sessions set up for workers and their families. The government has begun to honour workers’ benefits and committed to severance payments. They have also set up programs to help them decide on investments given some large sums of money they are expected to receive. It would be political suicide for this new government or any other to make such a drastic change and leave the people behind.
It was never the intention of this government to restructure the industry and toss workers to the side, yet some would have it seem that this is the nature of the government. For some time, the administration had been calling for partnerships and support to aid the transformation, but was met with resistance over and over again. Resistance on one end to continue the pumping of billions of taxpayers’ money into a company that is not using this sum to rejuvenate itself, but only to cover expenses, while on the other end the politics involving sugar workers and their affiliations was being played on masterly.
The People’s Progressive Party is known to have a strong support base in sugar workers and they have for years just patted them on the head over the failing industry, instead of saying honestly to the workers that things must change. Instead of coming clean and saying to them why after more than two decades of their leadership the sugar industry was in such a bad shape. They were not telling sugar workers what they did with GuySuCo’s money to cause the company to bankrupt.
This government did not heed the PPP’s rhetoric and display because we knew what had to be done. Things were not going right and the people voted for change. The government kept on, enduring punches from all sides. It maintained its posture and held firm to its commitment to honour obligations.
Now that the government and GuySuCo are closer to fulfilling these obligations to the workers, there is nothing left to holler about. The programs are being rolled out, the relevant agencies are involved in the transformation, and workers are being paid and trained. So now the opposition has conceded that change is necessary and it can work if all sides join hands and cooperate. What time we could have saved.
GAWU’s president Komal Chand was the first to state his delight in government committing to pay the workers’ severance and actually making arrangements to have this done. He saw the meeting with President David Granger and his team as a success. Now it appears he is being haunted, apparently by his own party, for wanting to work with the government to swiftly address the workers’ concerns and that of the industry.
This is the same GAWU that heightened the fight to weaken and remove the PNC from office in the late 80s. Without considering the consequences, GAWU helped to put the industry at risk to meet a political end, done in favour of the PPP, the party which Komal Chand himself serves.
In our last column, when the GAWU was described as always being the trade union or labour arm of the PPP, it was met with criticism and claims that the AFC is upset over the union’s militancy. It must be clear to Mr. Chand now that this clearly is not the case. He is now being criticized for poorly representing workers after decades as union president under the PPP administration.
If the sugar industry is changing for the better, then the “negative” effects will fall on those people that secretly supported the failure of GuySuCo to maintain control over its workforce. Now GAWU cannot openly say that it will not support government efforts, its business is in the interest of the workers not to play politics. The agency cannot serve two masters.

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