The tribunal presiding in the arbitration proceedings between GuySuCo and GAWU is expected to make its ruling on Saturday.
Since beginning the arbitration proceedings on November 9, the panel has had four meetings with the various parties; the last of which was held yesterday. The arbitration panel is chaired by Dr Gobind Ganga and consists of Sonya Roopnauth and Yog Mahadeo. Roopnauth was selected by the corporation to be its representative, while Mahadeo was chosen by the union. Deputy Chief Labour Officer Clive Nurse has been appointed as Secretary to the tribunal.
President of GAWU Komal Chand told this newspaper yesterday that the proceedings had progressed well and it was now up to the tribunal members “to sift through” all they would have been told and to make a judgment. He had previously told Stabroek News that the union wanted the panel to make a fair judgment that took into consideration the various issues facing the sugar workers.
Meanwhile, Chand disclosed that union had raised the matter of GuySuCo’s failure to pay the sugar workers their wages in a timely manner. Late Thursday evening, the corporation issued a statement saying it would not be able to pay workers the following day as per normal owing to cash flow problems. The delay in the arrival of a sugar vessel was cited as a main contributory factor for this. The corporation has since promised to pay the workers tomorrow, after apparently being able to raise enough funds.
Chand said the union was concerned about the timing of this occurrence as it could possibly be a deliberate ploy by the corporation given the stage of the arbitration proceedings.
Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir had ordered compulsory arbitration in the wage dispute following the deadlock in conciliation proceedings between the union and GuySuCo. This came after the corporation withdrew its initial offer to GAWU of a three per cent increase in wages and salaries for the year, saying that it was prepared to go to arbitration. This resulted in the GAWU represented workers engaging in a week-long strike, before they finally resumed work.
