… Increase pressure on GuySuCo to tackle unstable pay increases
By Andrew Carmichael
Factory workers, cane harvesters and other field workers attached to the Blairmount and Albion sugar estates in Berbice on Monday went on strike, intensifying their calls for the Guyana Sugar Corporation to address the issue of wages and wage increases.
The employees demand a promised increase from Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) for the year 2019.
Since 2018, the employees had been pushing the Corporation through strikes for wages and pay increases. They have received nothing since 2014.
However, in 2020, the Corporation agreed to pay an overall 5 percent increase with the promise that they would also pay retrospective increases for 2019. The 5 percent increase for 2020 was subject to discuss further.
The workers are supported by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU).
A cane harvester attached to the Blairmount Estate and employee representative Vicram Singh explained that the Union and GuySuCo had last met on March 9.
“At that meeting, the CEO told us that they would have to engage with Government to get the excellent retrospective increases. However, the meeting ended with the understanding that the CEO will be coming to us by the end of March and has yet to contact us, ”the cane harvester revealed. In Blairmont, the workers conducted a picketing exercise in front of the main administrative office while a similar exercise was conducted in Albion, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
In Albion, 1582 workers went on strike on Monday with 683 opting to work and over at Blairmount 306 opted for work and 906 on strike.
Nical Hero, who is employed as a complainant at the Blairmount Estate, said the increases were needed due to rising prices.
“The cost of living has gone high, everything is rising in the shop. So why can’t we have a pay rise? ”The weed asked.
Meanwhile, in an invited comment, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha noted that the Government had not made any promises to the workers in relation to pay increases.
“It’s not the Government. The sugar workers need to be clear. I saw that GuySuCo had met the employees and said they would look at their application. As a Government, we do not interfere with management and Union negotiations, ”the Minister explained.
Meanwhile, Singh cans harvester said as employees, they had lost confidence in the CEO.
He further explained that the CEO had asked them to submit their proposals for the retrospective increases which included 2019, 2020 and 2021.
“I have copies of letters sent to GuySuCo since 2019, explaining our proposal and on October 6, a similar letter was written to GuySuCo CEO Sasenarine Singh.
So, asking us to come up with proposals again is an understatement for us as employees. ”
Meanwhile, workers who fall under the umbrella of the National Association of Commercial and Industrial Workers (NACIE) did not take part in the strike.
Those workers say they don’t think they get the kind of support they should get from their Union.
Addressing the issue of pay and salary increases, Mustapha said workers should note that huge sums of money have been injected into the sugar industry over the past eight months.
“Our commitment was to ensure that we reopen the closed sugar estates. We work aggressively to do that. Our first target is the Rosehall Estate. ”
That estate is expected to begin grinding operations by the second crop in 2022. Enmore and Skeldon Sugar Estates are also scheduled to become operational shortly thereafter.
According to Mustapha, the Government will strive to work with GuySuCo to see how they can assist.
“We also have to look at GuySuCo’s ability to pay. We have been putting money into GuySuCo over the last nine months to develop GuySuCo. As a matter of fact, we are already starting to see results from some of the estates. ”
He cited Albion and Blairmount Estates, which have been able to qualify for an additional three days’ pay for employees as an incentive to achieve specific targets.
“That happened because the factories are now being improved due to critical capital works and also in the treatment area we are now looking at making the right infrastructure and roads so the cans can get faster to the factories.”
The Agriculture Minister said he was still briefed by the CEO on the negotiations between the employees, the Unions and the management of the sugar corporation.
He said he hoped to be briefed during the current week.
