GAWU is hopeful of being resolved to unstable pay increases

Sugar workers protest

… Meet GuySuCo on May 4

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has invited the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) to meet on May 4, after facing massive protests in recent days by sugar workers for unstable wage increases.

This week, more than 5000 workers from Blairmont and Albion Estates in Berbice protested for rises promised by GuySuCo for the year 2019.
GAWU President Seepaul Narine told Guyana Times on Tuesday that the Corporation requested a meeting on May 4, where the negotiations on wage increases will continue.
According to him, the Union remains hopeful that the dispute will be settled, adding that the company’s CEO, Sasenarine Singh, has the power to resolve it.
“We heard from GuySuCo today (Tuesday) and they have sent us a letter saying they are inviting us to a meeting on 4 May to continue the pay negotiations. I think the CEO has the authority to resolve it so we are very hopeful that the issue could be resolved and would be resolved, ”Narine said in an invited comment.
Since 2018, the employees had been pushing the corporation through strikes and protesting for a pay rise. They have received nothing since 2014. However, in 2020, the Corporation had agreed to pay an overall five percent increase with the promise that they would also pay retrospective increases for 2019. The increase was five percent for 2020 open for further discussion.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has since noted that the Government made no 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.
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, especially to revitalize the closed estates.
The Rose Hall Estate is expected to start grinding operations by the second crop in 2022. Enmore and Skeldon sugar estates are also planned to become operational shortly thereafter. According to Mustapha, the Government is striving 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. ”
On the protest line, a can harvester explained that the CEO had asked them to submit their proposals for the retrospective increases that included 2019, 2020 and 2021.
“I’ve had copies of letters sent to GuySuCo since 2019, explaining our proposal and on October 6, a similar letter was written to GuySuCo’s CEO Sasenarine Singh. So, asking us to submit proposals again is an understatement for us as employees, ”he said on Monday.
On the other hand, workers who fall under the umbrella of the National Association of Commercial and Industrial Workers (NACIE) did not participate in the strike. Those workers say they don’t think they get the kind of support they should get from their Union. (G12)