Facing dismal sugar production with only a few more weeks in the rainy part of the crop remaining, GuySuCo yesterday piled pressure on GAWU and NAACIE members to resume work but there were intimations that the strike could go longer than the one week originally planned.
With only the troubled Skeldon factory functioning and facing steep losses from the ongoing strike, the Guyana Sugar Corporation accused the main sugar union GAWU of engaging in a deliberate plan to cripple the industry.
The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) led by union President, Komal Chand had initially agreed to a seven-day strike which was expected to end tomorrow, but agitated sugar workers are threatening to prolong the strike if satisfactory wage offers are not made.
GAWU said yesterday that it is seeking to meet with officials at GuySuCo within the next few days, noting that if the current dispute is not settled it will drag into the New Year. The union called the corporation’s recent offers” fictional” and “a shameless proposal”, adding that the juxtaposing of wage increases with production has never been a practice in the sugar industry.
GAWU said the new proposals ought to have been on the table in January of this year for consideration and discussions, noting that any change of the rules of the game cannot be in order after the game has commenced and is almost at an end.
The union argued: “The Corporation, through its statement on November 09, 2010, informed the public first and not the Union at the bargaining table, of its proposal of a 5 per cent pay rise only on the attainment of a production of 270,000 tonnes sugar, a 3 per cent pay rise on the attainment of 260,000 to 269,000 tonnes sugar and a 2 per cent one-off payment should 250,000 tonnes sugar be produced.
The Corporation advised the Union on November 18, 2010 that the production of 250,000 tonnes sugar was achievable by December 31, 2010 and through the continuation of the crop in January, 2011 the higher thresholds would be realised. To extend the current second crop into January/February, 2011 in the midst of rainy conditions is not feasible.”
And the crisis in the industry escalated on Monday when the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) workers joined the strike saying that they too have been denied better wages for years. General Secretary, Kenneth Joseph told Stabroek News yesterday that no timeline has been attached to the strike action. Joseph observed that the industry is in “a bad state”, but emphasized that NAACIE workers have been denied real wages for too long.
GuySuCo underscored how bad things are when it issued a statement yesterday criticizing yet again the action taken by GAWU. The corporation has had to call on government to assist with the payments for creditors and many of the defects at the Skeldon factory would not be corrected earlier than January 2011, with the exception of the number 1 boiler which the corporation said is scheduled for completion by June 30th next year.
“If this senseless strike action was to continue, it will not only cause harm to the industry and the nation but to the workers and the unions alike”, the corporation said, adding that the strike action by the unions is in breach of the collective agreement existing between the parties. It said too that it will have to regrettably review its relations with the unions. It did not elaborate.
The statement from GuySuCo also lashed out at GAWU President Chand for recent comments he made about the sugar industry on a BBC Caribbean news programme.
The corporation said it was appalled at GAWU’s hypocritical stance because Chand recognizes the negative impact the strike action has on production and consequently, the financial situation of the industry.
According to the corporation, Chand spoke of the negative impact and the dire financial situation in the BBC interview. “To engage in such a deliberate plan to cripple the industry is both hypocritical and outmoded”, the corporation said, adding that it is left pondering how the union and workers expect it will find the necessary resources to sustain its operations and even more so offer any wage increase.
The corporation said too that the entire issue of any increase must now be revisited and hangs in doubt given the “ill-advised” strike action and the recent developments. GuySuCo said that GAWU not only frowned upon its offer, but it kept demanding more.
Heavy beating
GAWU justified the strike action saying in a statement yesterday that the workers’ purchasing power over the last few years has endured a heavy beating. The union said that if anything, GuySuCo’s treatment of sugar workers over the years has been “callous and blatant”.
The union pointed to wage increases since 2005 which it showed have all been lower than the rate of inflation, and as far as it is concerned, “the workers have been offered not even a black cent as pay increase, at this the eleventh month of the year”. GAWU said that since 2005 the compounded wage increase has been 31.26% while the compounded inflation rate has been 42.77%. The union maintained that GuySuCo’s production target of 250,000 tonnes of sugar is impossible at year end and warned that the non-award of a pay rise to workers by December 31, 2010 would not win their co-operation in cutting the remaining canes before the start of the 2011 first crop.
With respect to the Skeldon factory, GuySuCo again questioned why GAWU keeps pointing to the Skeldon factory. The corporation said the factory needs to be operational for the defects to be remedied.
However, the union said yesterday that it is in company with President Bharrat Jagdeo on the issue of Skeldon, noting that the Head of State recently lamented the state of the factory and the fact that it has not been delivering as expected.
GAWU added that the industry imminently needs a life boat which can carry workers, management and the country to safety. “To salvage the current crisis, the workers must be treated with dignity and respect. The powers-that-be who cannot exonerate themselves from some of the past and present negative happenings of the industry are in the driver’s seat”, the union added.
Further, GuySuCo ex-pressed shock that Chand would blame the lack of finances in the industry on the government’s part as the reason for the workers to proceed on strike. “Mr. Chand in his interview lashed out at the Government and Corporation for “having nothing coming forward which is why the workers felt that they at least must engage in some protest”’, GuySuCo statement said.
The corporation said that government has invested millions in the industry including the Skeldon project and more recently, the Enmore packaging plant. It said that the administration has also bailed out the corporation with much needed capital injection this year, in addition to $2B to “to urgently address our backlog of creditors”.
Meanwhile, the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce and the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce issued a joint statement yesterday calling on the GAWU and GuySuCo to end the dispute.
The chambers registered their disappointment with the current strike action saying that the constant disruption and forced shutdown of the entire operations of the corporation is not the solution to any of the problems affecting the industry or the sugar workers.
“The Unions and the workers need to ask themselves what is to be gained from crippling the industry. How would their actions positively impact their economic situation and the future and stability of the industry?” the chambers asked.
The Chambers said that they are extremely worried by the revelation that GuySuCo is considering the possibility of temporarily closing all its operations because “sugar is still king in Region 6”.
The Chambers are appealing for good sense to prevail. However, the groups also observed that solutions have to be found immediately to remedy the problems at Skeldon.” It has to be fixed. Like the financial giant A.I.G. in the United States the New Skeldon Factory simply cannot fail”, the chambers said in the statement.
