Dear Editor,
Guyana Sugar Corporation Management (GuySuCo) wishes to clarify several inaccurate public statements that were recently disseminated by the President of the Guyana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU). GuySuCo does not intend to negotiate in the press with the union but we always want to bring a factual explanation to the board for the union president to make some of these public statements.
1. After August 2020, the operational organizational staff at Head Office was increased by a net of two (2) people; not thirty (30) claimed by the Union Boss.
2. Senior staff are currently freezing employment at Head Office until the HR and skills audit process is complete. That report is expected to be submitted by the end of June 2021.
3. GuySuCo’s compensation package is governed by the Hays Job Evaluation Methodology and the corporation has not been able to meet the recommended senior staff rates since 2013 (seven years), meaning that the corporation’s rates below average senior management pay rates. in the public service and the private sector.
4. Current management recognizes that it inherited in August 2020, a debt owed to GAWU Credit Union and the union for payments totaling G $ 113 million. Since then to date, the corporation, with the restricted cash flow, has paid the GAWU approximately G $ 140 million. The corporation formally committed the GAWU to pay another G $ 2 million a week to clear its inherited debt.
5. In 2020, the corporation made a loss of approximately G $ 3.8 billion. This information is available to the GAWU.
6. In 2020, GuySuCo spent 102 percent of its earned revenue to pay wages. This meant that the corporation could not have met its pay bill without financial support from the shareholders. This information is also available to the GAWU.
7. GuySuCo’s 2017 Independent Audited Financial Statement made it absolutely clear, through the December 30, 2017 Vesting Order entitled GuySuCo 45 Transfer of Property Order 45 of 2017, “all immovable and immovable property in Wales , Skeldon, East Demerara and Rose Hall ”were transferred to NICIL. But the uniqueness of this dysfunctional transaction, as set out in that public document, acknowledged that “the privileged estates obligations remain with the corporation”. Furthermore, there is nothing “fairly straightforward” about a business that has the external auditors stating that “the validity of the going concern basis on which the consolidated financial statements are prepared depends on the continued support of the Government of Guyana”.
8. The corporation remains firm in its commitment to work with the unions to bring a final resolution to workers’ compensation issues. To that end, the corporation invited the union to a meeting on May 4, 2021.
GuySuCo’s management remains firm in its commitment to work with all stakeholders, especially the three (3) trade unions in the industry, to build a resilient business with an empowered workforce in a healthy and safe for everyone.
The corporation is keen to find a friendly solution that is acceptable to all stakeholders. Nevertheless, GuySuCo encourages factual discourse to advance the cause of the 7,400 employees and Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Communications Team