The GAWU and the NAACIE this morning (April 03, 2020) met with several senior officials of the GuySuCo. Today’s meeting followed a correspondence by GAWU yesterday (April 02) calling on the Corporation to temporarily suspend operations in light of the fearfulness sugar workers harbour in contracting the COVID-19 virus.
At the meeting, the Corporation’s CEO Dr Harold Davis, informed the workers unions that the situation was regrettable but the Company understood the workers apprehensions at this time. Dr Davis informed that the apart from sanitization and other measures embraced to staunch the spread of the coronavirus, the Company was examining providing reusable masks to all its workers. The GuySuCo was also acquiring apparatus to take employees temperature before commencing work as a means to identify possible infected persons and preventing them from working. He nevertheless shared that if the workers were uncomfortable coming to work, then the Company would have no other choice than to suspend the crop for an unknown period. He said such an examination would be done on an estate-by-estate basis and in consultation with the workers.
Regarding the GAWU’s call for compensation, the CEO shared that the Corporation’s financial position does not make such support possible. Dr Davis did inform that he has shared the Union’s concerns with Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder. He is, however, unsure of how the Minister will address the matter, or if he will address it at all. The GAWU nonetheless reiterates that sugar workers should, like all employees of the State, suffer no loss in pay. We believe that it is incumbent for the Administration to provide such support. We believe that in the absence of any support, workers would be forced to make ends meet and could find themselves in harm’s way. At this time, our Union calls on Minister Holder to sincerely address this burning concern of the workers. We remind him that five (5) years of no pay rise has eliminated the possibility for them to have any cushion in this crisis time and we urge that he proactively and strongly pursue this matter.
The Union, in seeking to find a solution to this issue, put to the Corporation, in the interim, that it implements the proposed rise in pay with effect from January 01, 2020 and to accordingly pay their workers their respective retroactive payments. Our request comes against the backdrop that there is general agreement on the proposed pay hikes. However, the Union and the Corporation will continue to be engaged in discussions regarding retroactive payments for 2019. The GAWU strongly contends that the workers ought to be paid from January 01, 2019 and we will continue to follow this issue up with GuySuCo. The Company, on this score, has said it will consider our proposal as it remains committed to its offer and will accordingly advise the Union.
At this point the meeting ended and the Union, through its structure, has begun to inform workers of our discussions. We know that the situation has forced workers and their families to be generally and understandably worried. Just yesterday, the local PAHO office warned that if the situation remains unchecked we could see some 20,000 persons being infected locally. This is, indeed, cause for fear and is a reminder of the need for us to practice and embrace every measure to militate against the contraction and spread of COVID-19. At this time, the GAWU again calls on the national authorities to be more active in addressing the prevailing crisis. We believe that such an approach could well ease some of the anxiousness that pervades. The Union contends that the national response ought to be all-encompassing and led by capable and competent professionals. We have heard and read about the involvement of certain politicians who, it appears, do not have the interest of our citizens at heart. This, if true, is a disturbing position that needs to be abandoned.
