Technical and clerical workers at Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) estates around the country suspended their strike yesterday and returned to work, ahead of formal talks between their union, the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), and the corporation’s board later this week.
Last Thursday, 1,090 workers, including boiler operators, laboratory technicians, workshop supervisors, foremen, medical staff, and office staff, went on strike after an expected salary increase was denied by the corporation. GuySuCo, which said there was no official notification from NAACIE about the strike by about 75% of the technical staff, has reported that there were minimum disruptions of operations as a result of it.
Yesterday, NAACIE General Secretary Kenneth Joseph told Stabroek News that there have been informal talks between GuySuCo and the union and the need for workers to return to work was emphasised.
Joseph said a majority of the workers have returned to work, while NAACIE is awaiting a meeting with the board of the corporation, at which chairman, Dr Rajendra Singh, is expected to be present. He said the meeting is set for Saturday.
In a statement from the office of GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer Paul Bhim on Saturday, the corporation said that during a meeting last Wednesday, NAACIE raised its demand for an additional increase in pay, but GuySuCo said that it could have ill afforded an increase. It noted that on July 8 last year, both parties had signed an agreement which makes provision for an average increase in pay of 35% to the employees represented by NAACIE at a cost of $225M or an average increase per employee of $17,000 per month.
According to the corporation, the new demands by the body are computed to be an additional increase of 32% in pay and are estimated to cost $204M or an increase of $16,000 per employee.
“These increases are based on basic rates of pay and exclude income from overtime, which in some categories could be between approximately 120% and 200% more on basic pay,” GuySuCo said. “This strike by the union has taken the corporation by surprise when the matter is still being negotiated bilaterally,” it added.
Last Friday, NAACIE said that workers took strike action over what was viewed as “significant anomalies” as regards their wages and salaries. The anomalies were confirmed by a recent job evaluation and salary survey exercise.
NAACIE stated that it fully supported the aggrieved workers, and Joseph told Stabroek News that the union met with GuySuCo on several occasions to discuss the pay anomalies, but while the corporation recognised the arguments and rationale being argued by the body, it refused to heed the call of the union and the employees.
He said that NAACIE will now look towards engaging the new board chair and if such engagements fail, the union will move towards having an audience with Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy and further, President Donald Ramotar.
