Striking sugar workers are contemplating resuming work on Friday, President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) Komal Chand said yesterday even as they continue to wait on the start of the arbitration process.
Chand said that workers from the different estates met yesterday and decided that they would continue their industrial action until tomorrow, with the possibility of them returning to work on Friday. Should they resume work on Friday, the workers would have been on strike for a week; an action which GuySuCo has repeatedly said it can ill-afford. The sugar corporation has found itself in serious financial difficulty.
The union President told Stabroek News that while some of the workers may have returned to work, no harvesting of canes is taking place. He said those workers who would have returned would be the service workers. Chand said that the union is still awaiting word on the arbitration process and said that they would like to agree on the terms of reference for the process as well as the composition of the panel.
Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir said yesterday that he is still trying to finalize the members of the arbitration panel. He disclosed that there were some “issues” with the letters distributed between the Sugar Corporation and the union which he was looking into and stated that he was having discussions with both parties. The Minister expressed his displeasure at some actions on the part of GAWU and said that while the union is talking about the grievances procedure, its members are trying to pressure other entities into making decisions under duress.
On Thursday conciliation proceedings between GuySuCo and GAWU were declared to have ended in deadlock by Chief Labour Officer Yoganand Persaud. 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.
This action by the Sugar Corporation angered workers who proceeded to engage in industrial action. GuySuCo has since repeatedly said that the offer had to be withdrawn to facilitate the arbitration process.