The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) together with Canada’s largest private sector union – UNIFOR – will convene a special one (1) day conference titled “Sugar – too big to fail” on (Tuesday) September 04, 2018 at the Grand Coastal Hotel, Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara.
The one-day event will bring together decision-makers, present and former sugar workers, GuySuCo executives, trade unionists, politicians, among others who will consider, the consequences and the ramifications of the decisions that have been taken with regard to the industry in recent times. Moreover, the one-day activity will reflect on the situation which now confronts thousands of Guyanese in the sugar belt. The conference will also seek to examine, rationally, the current state of the sugar industry and the avenues available to put the industry on the road to sustainability and viability.
Previously, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon had indicated he would provide a presentation on the Government’s behalf, however, yesterday (August 30, 2018) he advised he could no longer attend the Conference. In the meantime, we have written the Government seeking that a suitable replacement be identified and we are hopeful that the Administration will positively consider our request. Also, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo is slated to provide the Opposition’s thoughts and concerns about the industry. NICIL-SPU Head, Colvin Heath-London is expected to inform participants about plans and programmes that will be implemented to safeguard the minimized GuySuCo using funding from the recently secured $30B bond. Former GuySuCo General Manager, Vishnu Panday will deliver a presentation to point to the importance of proper agronomic practices towards improving production and productivityand, Vice President of the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) of Jamaica, Clifton Grant will give a presentation on the Jamaican workers experience following the privatization of that industry.
The conference will also hear from some of the former sugar workers who were employed at the closed estates. From them we expect to learn about how their lives have changed since the estates have been closed and how to manage to face up to life’s responsibilities in an era of nearly no income. This for us is an important element of the conference and will serve to remind those present of the real impact of the decisions related to the industry and the strong need to meaningfully address them.
Addressing the conference will be GAWU’s President, Komal Chand who will reiterate, among other things, the Union’s position with regard to the decisions on the sugar industry.
UNIFOR’s President, Jerry Dias will also address the conference and share his Union’s thoughts and concerns regarding the sugar industry and, from his own experiences, offer advice on what could be done on the painful road ahead. Dias, who is Guyanese by birth, was elected as UNIFORs first National President at the union’s Founding Convention during the Labour Day weekend of 2013. He is an experienced and trusted negotiator and organizer, taking on corporate giants from General Motors to Boeing to Coca-Cola. Jerry is a committed trade unionist, focused on the needs of local union leaders and rank-and-file members. His dedication has earned him the trust of members and shop floor bargaining committees right across Canada.
Before the founding of UNIFOR, Jerry served as an assistant to the national president of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), one of UNIFOR founding unions, a post that he held under two presidents since 2007. Jerry began his work life in 1978 at then de Havilland Aircraft (now Bombardier Aerospace) in Toronto. He was elected shop steward later that year in what would become a lifelong dedication to the labour movement. As plant chair in 1985, Jerry led the work stoppage that resulted in the setting up of the Canadian Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) – which includes the right to know about dangerous materials. He also fought against the sell-off of de Havilland, which would have resulted in a plant closure. Jerry was also elected local union president at CAW Local 112, before being appointed to the union’s national staff as the aerospace sector coordinator in 1993.
Over the last three years, Jerry has taken on the issue of violence against women through his participation, along with his son Jordan, in the Hope in High Heels walk. Jerry is the top fundraiser – helping to provide a large chunk of the operating budget of Halton Women’s Place, a women’s shelter and centre in Burlington, Ontario.
GAWU is grateful for UNIFOR’S sponsorship of the timeliest attempt to really deal with the toll that past decisions have taken on the lives of sugar workers and we are particularly glad that a Guyana-born leader of Canada’s biggest private sector union will lead the charge – Sugar is too big to fail.
