Workers of Albion and Blairmont estates this morning (April 19, 2021) took protest action as they expressed their dismay regarding the attitude of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) concerning protracted wage/salary discussions that go back to 2019. The workers, like their colleagues at Uitvlugt Estate who protested last Friday (April 16, 2021), are calling on the state-owned sugar company to address the long-outstanding dispute in earnest.
The workers are peeved that the sugar corporation has remained mum on the matter. They believe that the company is not treating with the issue with the seriousness required. Workers have urged the Corporation to return to the negotiating table with a view to have the matters settled. They shared that they are not unmindful of the Corporation’s situation, but they said it appeared that the GuySuCo was neglectful of their plight. The workers shared they are prepared to listen to any reasonable proposal from the sugar company but noted that all they have been hearing is a deafening silence.
Sugar workers believe that the Corporation has shown them and their Union scant respect. They pointed out that the company had committed itself to providing a response to the Union by the end of March 2021. They said that though half of April has gone by the GuySuCo has yet to make its position known. They were at a loss for the company’s position though they expressed hope that the Corporation could reconsider its position and resume discussions at earliest. They believe that it is possible for the GAWU and the GuySuCo to reach an agreement though they noted it depended on the attitude of the Corporation.
Workers said they noted a report in the April 19, 2021 Kaieteur News where Minister of Agriculture, Zulifkar Mustapha shared that Government would seek to work with GuySuCo to see what could be done. This they held offered a glimmer of hope though they noted that the Minister has pointed out that the discussions are within the realm of the Union and the Corporation. The utterances of the Minister were vastly different from what they heard from GuySuCo previously. It has raised their suspicions about what the sugar company had told them previously and they believed this was not a healthy development.
The Union was also concerned about comments made by a GuySuCo source in an article published in the April 17, 2021 Stabroek News. The newspaper reported that the source informed “[t]he 2019 5% increase when calculated will require some $1.5 billion annually…”. This disclosure is wildly inaccurate and is seemingly the figment of someone’s imagination. While we seek not to negotiate in the media, from data GuySuCo shared with the Union we can say that the quoted figure has been multiplied several times over. Maybe it is that the GuySuCo source was glaringly misinformed or worse yet engaged in willful misinformation. We trust it is the former rather than the latter.
The workers and the Union remain hopeful that the Corporation can return to the bargaining table and return with clean hands. We believe that serious discussions could see the parties resolving their differences and resulting in a satisfactory agreement. Our Union, during previous engagements with GuySuCo, has indicated our willingness to re-examine our position. Such re-examination, however, is predicated on the sugar company demonstrating its sincerity to finding an agreement and narrowing the differences that currently exist. Currently, the workers and the Union await to hear from GuySuCo.
