This morning (March 15, 2021), a number of workers, prior to the commencement of work, took part in a spirited picketing exercises outside of the administrative offices of Blairmont and Albion Estates calling on the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) to bring an end to its protracted procrastination regarding wage/salary negotiations. The workers pointed out that it has been several months now since the GAWU and the GuySuCo have resumed discussions on wage/salary improvements and yet it appears there has not been any movement on the part of the Corporation.
At those meetings, the GAWU reiterated that the discussions surrounding pay rise for 2019 remained unresolved and therefore discussions ought to have begun from that point. During the engagements, GuySuCo acknowledged the GAWU’s contention. The Corporation sought the Union and the workers to exercise patience to allow it to engage in consultations with a view to finding a solution. The Union and workers agreed to give the new Management an opportunity towards finding a solution. The GAWU and the workers also signalled to GuySuCo their willingness, through compromise, to find a settlement as all sides desired an amicable solution.
Unfortunately days turned into weeks and then into months as the workers and the Union waited to hear from the Corporation. In a correspondence on January 28, 2021, the GAWU reminded the Corporation of its undertaking to respond to the Union and the workers. The Corporation, at that time, communicated that it was still engaged in consultations. At a meeting on March 09, 2021, the GAWU and the GuySuCo resumed discussions. At that time, given the protracted period, the Union and the workers had high expectations that it would have received a firm position from the GuySuCo. That expectation was dashed as the Corporation sought the Union to table proposals on wages/salaries for years 2019, 2020, and 2021. The GAWU’s delegation, which comprised representatives from the various estates along with Union officials, was most upset as it pointed out that the GuySuCo was already in receipt of proposals for years 2019 and 2020. Therefore, it found the request bizarre and bluntly refused to accede to GuySuCo’s demand.
During the engagement, the Corporation, in the Union’s view, sought to scapegoat the Government of Guyana. The GAWU and the workers out rightly reject such contentions we are aware of the Government’s commitment to the industry. This commitment was reiterated by no lesser than His Excellency President Dr Mohammed Irfaan Ali during the union-organised activity to commemorate the death of Kowsilla on March 06, 2021. Moreover, we have recognised the tangible demonstration of the Government’s support to the industry and can see no worthwhile rationale to impugn the Administration.
The workers vexations were heightened after the Corporation, maybe inadvertently, disclosed that quantum of pay rise proposed for 2021 but yet refused to put it on the table. This the GAWU’s delegation found absurd and the workers wondered whether they were being deceived or taken for fools. The workers apprehensions have grown stronger after they learnt of seeming aggrandizement at certain levels of the Corporation’s hierarchy while they are being told to hold on and be patient. They drew attention that their hard work and effort have been pivotal to the production levels the Corporation boasts about yet their plight is apparently ignored.
On that score, the workers of Albion Estate also called on the Corporation to appropriately award them for their production achievement on week-ending March 13, 2021. Albion Estate realized approximately 92% of its weekly target and the workers are demanding a half day’s pay as Weekly Production Incentive. The Albion workers pointed out that in the week prior when Uitvlugt Estate also achieved 92% of its weekly target, the Corporation approved a similar payment. Subsequently the Uitvlugt workers received a full day’s pay after GuySuCo approved a reduction in the weekly production target similar to what was previously approved for Albion and Blairmont Estates. The Albion workers are, therefore, seeking that the precedent be upheld.
The Union and the thousands of sugar workers remain committed to the success of the sugar industry. However, we recognise too that the workers also play a critical role in the attainment of that success and, therefore, the procrastination seen cannot be helpful in this regard. We urge that better sense prevail as the Management and the workers and the Union work collectively to restore the sugar industry which had been badly battered during the term of the Coalition. We believe on the wages issue, a settlement is within reach.
