GuySuCo will be paying sugar workers their three percent retroactive pay hike before the Christmas holiday.
In a release issued yesterday afternoon, the Sugar Corporation announced that “after diligent efforts over the past few weeks, it is now in a position to honour the retroactive payments to our employees before the Christmas holiday.”
This announcement comes after sugar workers earlier this week engaged in industrial action while calling on GuySuCo to honour the pay increase awarded to them by the tribunal before Christmas.
According to the release, in order to facilitate the retroactive payments based on the 3 percent increase, the Corporation’s management has taken a decision that it will not be paying its creditors until late January 2010. “We ask our creditors at this difficult time for their continued understanding”, the release said. The Corporation will also “be discounting sales” of its molasses at a significant cost, the release noted.
Further, GuySuCo’s UK customer Tate & Lyle has agreed to advance money to the Corporation on the basis of the next shipment of sugar to them.
Additionally, the Corporation has deferred an ING loan installment to the last week in December 2009. The company was also able secure an emergency loan from a consortium of local banks agreed at a meeting held yesterday afternoon. The consortium includes: the Bank of Nova Scotia, Citizen’s Bank & Demerara Bank, the release noted.
Meanwhile, the release said that the Annual Production Incentive will be paid in late January, “as is traditional”. Discussions are still ongoing between GAWU and the Corporation into this matter. Stabroek News understands that when the two entities met yesterday to discuss this matter, the Corporation made an offer to pay the workers an incentive equal to 4 work days, which was rejected by the union. The workers meanwhile picketed in front of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Guyana building.
The Corporation also called for the workers and their unions to engage in dialogue to address their concerns, rather than strikes and protests.
These actions are only aggravating the problems that confront the industry, the Corporation said.
GuySuCo also said “that the insinuations during this period that management was insensitive to the needs of our workers came from many quarters but despite these obvious distractions”, it remained committed to its objective”.
It also issued a call for the corporation’s Turn Around Plan to be given a chance to succeed so that the workers and other stakeholders could be assured of a sustainable and viable sugar industry.
