Sugar industry workers have been awarded an across-the-board 6 per cent wages increase plus a 2.1 per cent one-off cost-of-living adjustment for 2008, following a ruling by the arbitration tribunal yesterday. The increase is expected to be paid before the end of December, while the cost-of-living adjustment should be paid to workers no later than March next year.
The Arbitration Tribunal was established after the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Guyana Agricultural and General Worker’s Union (GAWU) failed to come to agreement over wages and salary increases for this year. GAWU had sought a 14.25 per cent pay rise for workers, while GuySuCo had offered 5.25 percent.
Deputy Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Dr Gobind Ganga; Major General (ret’d) Norman McLean and attorney-at-law Cecil Seepersaud sat on the panel.
The tribunal submitted its report to Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir at the Bank of Guyana roof garden yesterday morning. Nadir commended the tribunal on its work and stated that its report had been produced in a very professional manner.
“There have been significant increases in wages and salaries and some may not be happy in the award. GuySuCo may feel that the award is burdensome, while GAWU may think that the award is… not enough for the workers,” the minister said.
However, Nadir stated that everyone should be given time to settle into the adjustments and work with the award presented. He noted that for the first time in 65 years the American Consumer Price Index had recorded a drop, and that fuel, commodities and other things were now available at lower cost.
Those decreases, according to Nadir, had trickled into our economy. However, he warned that while there had been decreases in the cost of some imports, we would have to expect a decrease also on what we earned from exports.
In the report the tribunal stated that it was imperative that the union and GuySuCo resolved workers’ grievances since they played an important role in the organisation. The arbitrators noted that GuySuCo was expecting to face a deficit of $1.2 billion or more which would have to be financed by borrowing. However, it was the tribunal’s opinion that the deficit could have been addressed by GuySuCo if the company had aimed for higher output and the efficient shipment of 18,000 tons of sugar to Europe.
This year and the next would pose major financial challenges for GuySuCo, the tribunal said, and owing to these challenges the sugar company needed a compromise, since additional expenses could have a disastrous impact on the organisation and its work force.
Komal Chand, President of GAWU, said he was dissatisfied with the “compromise.” He said there was a lack of motivation in GuySuco and that the organisation was “poorly managed and even mismanaged.”
“The company is going down a deep pit next year. Their future is bleak,” Chand commented.
GuySuCo Human Resources Officer Jai Petam said that the company was likely to accept the tribunal award, although accepting those conditions would involve $1.3 billion in additional expenses for the sugar company.
The dispute between GuySuCo and GAWU commenced in March when the union sought meetings to begin negotiations on fringe benefits and an across-the-board increase in wages and salaries.
GuySuCo did not succumb to the union’s demands but made a counter-offer which was rejected by GAWU. The meetings continued until a decision was made for a third-party intervention for conciliation. At the final conciliation meeting deadlock was declared by the Chief Labour Officer.
The union then embarked on a three-day strike, shutting down all the sugar estates. It was at this point that Minister Nadir intervened, invoking his powers under Section Four 1c of the Labour Act (Chapter 98:01), directing the parties to appear before the tribunal.
A release from the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday reported Minister Robert Persaud as saying that the award could be considered “fair and reasonable in the circumstances.” According to the statement, he went on to say that the board and management of GuySuCo should intensify efforts to reduce the cost of production, eliminate wastage and corruption, and improve general efficiency.
