The Guyana Sugar Cor-poration Inc yesterday called for arbitration in the case of an employee it said was summarily dismissed last month for assaulting the Manager of the Skeldon Estate.
GuySuCo’s call followed its rejection of the advice earlier this month of the Chief Labour Officer, Charles Ogle for the reinstatement of the employee, Stephen Daniels with full pay following two conciliation meetings with the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) at the Ministry of Labour.
Daniels’ dismissal had triggered a debilitating strike at Skeldon which led to other acts such as the burning of cane. It was finally agreed under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour that his dismissal would be withdrawn and he would be considered suspended without pay pending the conciliation talks.
The Corporation yesterday said that its rejection of the CLO’s recommendation is based on the availability of statements by workers and staff who presented evidence that the Estate Manager was neither under the influence of alcohol nor confrontational towards Daniels, and that on the contrary, it was Daniels who was aggressive towards the Manager, which led to him physically assaulting the Manager.
GuySuCo said that prior to the start of the conciliatory proceedings, the Corporation and the Union signed a Terms of Resumption on September 24, 2014, that included a resolution of the matter either at conciliation or arbitration. Having now rejected the CLO’s recommendation, the corporation said it has requested the Ministry of Labour to move the matter to arbitration.
“The Corporation wishes to restate, as it did in previous statements, that the Estate Manager in his usual night visits to the factory and mill dock met a group of workers that included (Stephen Daniels) who were malingering in the vicinity of the mill dock and cautioned them to report to their respective work stations. On being cautioned by the Manager, (Daniels) became abusive and was calmly advised by the Manager to heed his advice and report to his work station. (Daniels) subsequently retaliated and approached the Manager in a hostile manner, and in the process struck the Manager in his face. The incident was witnessed by several staffs and workers, all of whom have testified in written statements that the Estate Manager was neither intoxicated nor aggressive and abusive to (Daniels)”, GuySuCo said.
It further said that there were several incidents in the past at various estates whereby employees who are alleged to have physically assaulted their co-workers or superiors have been summarily dismissed. “The most recent being at Blairmont Estate where a cane harvester had physically assaulted a field foreman, and had his services summarily terminated; without a hearing. This decision was communicated to the Union’s General Secretary, and who concurred with the decision.” GuySuCo said.
The Corporation said it was yesterday invited by the Ministry of Labour to a continuation of the conciliatory meeting on Monday, October 20, 2014. The Corporation said it looks forward to the Ministry’s deliberation on this matter in charting the way for an early resolution at arbitration.
The main sugar union GAWU on Wednesday expressed disgust at GuySuCo’s position.
GAWU Head Komal Chand told Stabroek News on Wednesday that it was ridiculous that GuySuCo wanted more time to be given to this issue. He said that it was the union’s wish to have a meeting with the ministry as soon as possible now that GuySuCo has finally responded to the CLO’s recommendations.
He said that taking the matter before the ministry meant that the ministry would pronounce the matter deadlocked and arbitration could commence.
He said that it was “a bit absurd that the penalty, suspension was applied, one cannot be suspended indefinitely…and there was no logical timeframe given,” for Daniels’ suspension. He said that GuySuCo was following “no logical framework” in terms of industrial relations.
Chand told Stabroek News that GuySuCo was “not treating the matter with the level of importance,” continuing that workers were “peeved…They should treat the matter with the necessary importance as they ought to. It is showing how GuySuCo could just be callous and they don’t care a damn you can imagine so many other matters they treat like this. This is why workers have to resort to strike.”
The head of GAWU noted that Ogle’s recommendations were “extremely straightforward, he recommended that the man be reinstated and that the period that he was suspended be paid.”
Facilitated by the ministry, GuySuCo and GAWU have been engaged in conciliation meetings following the five-day strike at the Skeldon estate.
Speaking to Stabroek News on Wednesday, Daniels was hopeful that he will be reinstated as he has been without a job for almost five weeks. He stated that he was also hoping that the CLO’s recommendation that he be paid for his suspension be approved and adhered to.
