Mustapha Zulfikar
Days after sugar workers at the Uitvlugt Estate, West Coast Demerara (WCD), dropped equipment to protest over deferred negotiations over wage increases, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said he will engage with Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) on the weight.
The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) said on Friday that GuySuCo failed to deliver on its promise of its position on wage / wage improvements for the period 2019 to 2021.
The Corporation was expected to return to the Union by the end of March 2021 but despite writing GuySuCo on April 9, the Union has not yet received a response. This led to the execution of a protest on Friday by Uitvlugt workers.
Nevertheless, Minister Mustapha said the Government was awaiting a report from GuySuCo CEO Sasenarine Singh.
“The Government has not promised any progress, but we will ensure that we work with the Corporation to see what we can do for the sugar workers,” he said on the sidelines of a community consultation in Maida, Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne).
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Agriculture Minister said that GuySuCo and GAWU are ultimately responsible for the pay agreements.
“As a Government, we do not interfere with management and Union negotiations,” he said.
However, the Minister noted that GuySuCo’s ability to pay the increases would take into account investments it has made since August, to regenerate the estates.
“We’ve been putting money into GuySuCo over the last nine months to develop GuySuCo, recapitalizing GuySuCo. As a matter of fact, we’re starting to see results already from some of the estates, ”Mustapha said.
Albion and Blairmont sugar estates were praised for making an extra three days’ pay for improving the factories through critical capital works.
Minister Mustapha said, “Our commitment was to ensure that we reopen the closed sugar estates. We work aggressively to do that. ”
In a statement on Friday, GAWU said sugar workers felt they believed GuySuCo was disrespectful to them and to the Union.
“They shared that GuySuCo has boasted huge investments in the fields and factories but there is less strength in tackling the condition of workers. The employees argued that as much as the Corporation recognized the need for investment in its physical assets, its human assets also required some level of investment as well, ”the Union said in Friday’s message.
He went on to highlight workers’ frustration over the pay freeze they suffered under the coalition’s term of office, noting that some of them were earning slightly above the national minimum wage.
“This, they said, is hardly sufficient to care for their families. Employees shared that they recognized the state of the Corporation and were in empathy but nevertheless believed that something should be done to at least ease their position as efforts were being developed to turn the industry around. A highly motivated and dedicated workforce is key to the success of climbing the industry from the doldrums, ”a GAWU statement outlined.
On this note, affected employees expressed delight at the recent comments of GuySuCo CEO Sasenarine Singh, who said in an interview that the Corporation was trying to sell sugar at higher prices.
This initiative is being praised by the sugar workers, who are hopeful that even more sugar can be sold in the new markets touched. Employees felt that their efforts were partly responsible for the improvements identified and that they should receive some due reward for their contributions.
GAWU, meanwhile, said it remains open for frank discussions with the Corporation.
Just in March, GAWU accused GuySuCo of dragging its foot on the issue of pay rises during a picketing exercise conducted by employees at Albion, Corentyne, and Blairmont Estates, West Coast Berbice.
The Union had made clear at that time that pay negotiations had been going on for years and it appeared that the Corporation was not interested in ending negotiations.
Since taking office, the PPP / C Administration has injected some 7 billion dollars into the sugar industry – $ 5 billion in the 2020 Crisis Budget and another $ 2 billion in this year’s budget – to help as the sector turns.
