Following Thursday’s deadlock in the conciliation proceedings between GuySuCo and GAWU both entities are now awaiting the start of the arbitration process, even as a significant number of employees represented by the union yesterday downed their tools as part of a national strike.
The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) yesterday reported that 65.6 percent of Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) workers were on strike. The only estate which did not participate in the strike yesterday was the Wales Sugar Estate, the Corporation noted.
According to the Corporation’s Communications Officer Romel Roopnarine yesterday’s strike action by GAWU workers was a direct contravention of the labour agreement which states that when arbitration is imposed, workers are not supposed to strike. He said the action taken by GAWU was not in the best interest of the sugar industry, especially since the sugar company has been struggling to maintain its financial viability in recent times. He also said that were the strike action to continue for an extended period, the company may have to re-examine its yearly production target.
On Thursday, Chief Labour Officer Yoganand Persaud declared the conciliatory discussions between the two bodies at a deadlock. At this meeting, GuySuCo withdrew its initial offer to GAWU of a 3 percent increase in wages and salaries for the year, saying that it was prepared to go to arbitration.
However, according to GAWU when these developments were communicated to the factory workers at Rose Hall Estate, they immediately walked off the job thereby forcing the factory to cease operation. However, GuySuCo , in a press statement ,accused the union of taking the talks out of context.
Later that evening, Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir imposed compulsory arbitration in the wage dispute.
When contacted last evening, Nadir said that the members of the arbitration panel are still to be appointed and that hopefully this will be done early next week, after which the arbitration process can begin. He too acknowledged that the strike action by the workers was not in keeping with the arbitration process.
Meanwhile, General Secretary of GAWU, Seepaul Narine said that the union has communicated its interest to GuySuCo in being part of the arbitration process and is now awaiting directions from the Labour Ministry. He disclosed that the strike action was something largely instigated by the sugar workers themselves who felt that the move by GuySuCo to withdraw its 3 percent offer was in bad taste. He said that the union felt that it was necessary to strike at this time.
When asked about the non-participation of the Wales sugar workers, Narine said he was not sure exactly why these workers were not participating but said that maybe they had not gotten the message about the industrial action. He also said that so far it is not clear how long the strike will go on for but he explained that this will be discussed at a meeting scheduled for today.
On Tuesday, GAWU said it was asking for a 10% increase for its workers after it was asked to reconsider its initial request of 15 percent. Last week, the union had turned down a 3% offer by the sugar corporation.
Three Tuesdays ago, GuySuCo pulled out of wage negotiations with GAWU after strike action by workers on the La Bonne Intention (LBI) estate. The sugar company stated that it would not negotiate under duress.
Following the corporation’s action, GAWU called its workers out on a two-day national strike over what it deemed to be GuySuCo’s high-handed approach in the ongoing wage dispute. The workers on the LBI estate, however, continued their strike over the failure of the corporation to set a production target for the workers for last week and explained that this would have prevented them from achieving the weekly production incentive (WPI).
Meanwhile, the National Association of Agricultural Commercial & Industrial Employees (NAACIE) and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) have come out in support of GAWU and the position it has taken. GAWU is the largest affiliate of FITUG.
NAACIE, which also represents workers in the sugar industry, has come out in support of GAWU as they struggle “for decent living wages.” In a press release, General Secretary of NAACIE Kenneth Joseph said that the current strike “appears to be the fight for decent living wages in what GuySuCo, itself, calls arduous work in an industry that is bigger than workers and their Union.”
“NAACIE while supporting the GAWU’s position that the Corporation can do better is also surprised at the position of the Corporation to withdraw the 3% offer made after encouraging the Union to move from its original reasonable demand to attempt to cause an agreement”, Joseph said.
Joseph further noted that “workers of GuySuCo sacrificed earnings to cause the Skeldon project to be a reality and to attempt to contribute to a sustainable GuySuCo.” He added that “this should be recognised by the Corporation, because, as reported, sugar is bigger than the workers. It is also bigger than Managers and owners.”
While NAACIE workers did not join in the strike action yesterday, Joseph told this newspaper yesterday that the union was monitoring the situation carefully and that strike action by NAACIE workers was a possibility.
FITUG, the umbrella organization responsible for representing most of Guyana’s registered workers, stated that it was cautious about joining any debate between GAWU and its members’ employer, GuySuCo, in the interest of a peaceful, constructive, fair and just arbitration process.
However, the union said that “in the context of the general question of workers’ conditions and wages, FITUG would urge both the GuySuCo and the government spokesperson to be more restrained and sensitive when referring to the nation’s workers and their respective roles on vital industries and even crucial government agencies.” “For example, to mention that “sugar is more than…. and bigger than the sugar workers,” whilst partially with some merit, is tantamount to a dismissal of the role in this nation’s economic survival being played by thousands of sugar-sector, working-class employees”, the release stated.
On the issue of wage and salary increases, FITUG said “that other workers were recently afforded a $4,000.00 across the board monthly allowance … as a ten per cent increase on their salaries.” The release stated that “that those workers deserved those considerations just as GAWU’s members deserve fair and just increase in the face of challenging economic realities. In 2007, those workers also enjoyed a nine (9) per cent increase.”
FITUG said that it believed in the sincerity of GAWU in this matter even as it realizes that the timing was inopportune. “Fully cognizant of the fact that increased industrial action is not desirable at this sensitive stage of our country’s economic development, FITUG, nevertheless, assures GAWU of its active co-operation as this specific matter continues” the release said.
