For the third consecutive day, cane cutters of Skeldon Estate took strike action as they protested the haughty and arrogant attitude of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo). The workers are most upset by the sudden and unannounced withdrawal of a long-standing practice whereby they are paid their extra payments proportionate to the task they would have completed. The workers related that for as long as they can recall this has been the system employed at Skeldon Estate and it has served the workers and the estate well.
It is indeed saddening that so soon after the commencement of the crop, workers are forced to take strike action to defend their rights and conditions. If it were the case that the Corporation had wished to change the practice at Skeldon, certainly it could have engaged the Union and the workers in discussions to reach an amicable solution in the nine (9) months the estate was not operating. It seems rather than taking an enlightened approach to the situation, the Corporation has chosen to employ a ‘wrecking ball’ attitude in addressing the workers issues. This is a most disturbing approach in our contemporary times.
The Union was also very perturbed to learn that about 55 cane cutters were seemingly forcefully taken into the cultivation against their will to work this morning (September 23, 2017). Normally, the workers from the different villages are transported to the Baker Shop Dam order line where the number of workers are recorded by the relevant managerial personnel before they are finally transported to the worksite. Today, however, the lorry travelling from Crabwood Creek picking up workers along the way went straight into the cultivation though the workers kept demanding that the chauffeur stop at the order line as is customary. Seven of the workers, we understand, disembarked from the moving lorry at the order line, at their own risk, and a further six (6) walked out from the cultivation where they were taken. This is, in our view, a most improper act if not a criminal one. It also speaks to the low levels that the GuySuCo has descended and harks back to a time of forced labour, a time we of the GAWU felt was condemned to the history books. Moreover, it is the first time as an independent state that we recall that workers have been taken against their will to work and, in our view, violates their inalienable constitutional right to strike and right to work.
The GAWU has been making efforts to have the Union and the Corporation to intervene at the central level to arrest the situation and to find a solution. The Corporation, however, has not agreed with the Union’s request. Also, efforts by the Union and the workers at the local level were in vain. Quite possibly, the Corporation is seeking to engender the workers protest actions towards its own nefarious ends. Certainly, with sugar production lagging far behind the set target at this time, the Corporation is obviously looking for a scapegoat to cover up its poor management.
At this time, the GAWU calls on GuySuCo to revert to the status quo and to commence engagements with the Union and the workers to reach an amicable solution.
