Skeldon Sugar Factory workers yesterday staged a strike after GuySuCo took disciplinary action against nine employees following an investigation into a recent fire that resulted in extensive damage to a bagasse conveyor belt.
GuySuCo, in a statement, yesterday afternoon, said that following a “full investigation” into the August 7 fire, disciplinary action was taken against employees, both managerial and non-managerial. It noted that the investigation revealed that the fire was as a result of “gross negligence.” As a result, a senior employee and three non-managerial employees were dismissed; two senior employees were suspended and another was interdicted from duty; and two non-managerial employees were suspended.
According to GuySuCo, while the fire reportedly started around 3 am that day, based on the extent of the damage “it is clear that the blaze started much earlier than the time it was first reported.” The fire, which occurred on the day that the Skeldon Estate was slated to commence production for the second crop of the year, caused a three-day production loss in addition to extensive damage where remedial work will cost millions of dollars.
Following the action against the workers yesterday, GuySuCo said the factory workers decided to engage in industrial action “against the decision to dismiss their colleagues.” When contacted, President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) Komal Chand said that the factory workers “spontaneously took strike” action. Both Chand and Kenneth Joseph, General Secretary of the National Association of Agricul-tural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), said unionized workers were dismissed. Chand said GAWU has asked for a meeting with GuySuCo’s management who said they will only meet when the workers return to work.
Chand said the union will urge the workers to return to work because it would like to quickly resolve the issue. Chand noted that it was unclear if all the disciplined workers were unionized.
Meanwhile, Joseph added that the NAACIE branch at Skeldon has applied to the management of the Skeldon Factory for a meeting. According to him, the union is moving for a quick resolution to the matter.
GuySuCo noted that the “strike action by the factory workers is at a most inopportune time.” It said “there is a very large crop (480,000 tonnes of cane) to be harvested,” including a second crop production target of 34,000 tonnes for the factory. “It must be noted that at this point in time, over 650 punts of cane are in a state of readiness for crushing which will yield approximately 4,000 tonnes of sugar,” it also said.
The sugar corporation faces an uphill task to meet its second crop target after a dismal first crop.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud was due to take the media on a tour of the Skeldon factory this week.
It was first scheduled for yesterday, then postponed to today and now postponed until further notice.
