Sugar workers’ union GAWU and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) remain locked in dispute over the status of the arbitration over the firing of a Skeldon estate employee.
The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) maintains that the process has been concluded after the arbitrator, former Chief Labour Officer Mohamed Akeel, was unable to get its agreement to change the Terms of References that were agreed upon by both sides and make an award.
However, after the worker Stephen Daniels was instructed by the union to resume his duties last week Wednesday, the same day Akeel ended talks, he was sent home by GuySuCo management who held that arbitration is ongoing.
Head of GAWU Komal Chand told Stabroek News on Thursday that GAWU informed Daniels to resume work based on the Terms of Resumption, which stated that the dismissal of Stephen would be amended to suspension without pay until the end of either conciliation or arbitration.
Chand said that “Arbitration ended. He [Akeel] is on tape, on record, so we considered the matter over.”
He said that at arbitration an amendment to the Terms of Reference was sought but GAWU declined. Chand noted that all parties involved were made aware of what exactly the terms stated in relation to what happened at the end of arbitration—Daniel’s was to be reinstated—and since no amendments were made arbitration had to be brought to a close.
Daniels had been fired by GuySuCo in September after allegedly assaulting the Skeldon estate manager. This led to a debilitating strike, which ended after the intervention of the Ministry of Labour. It was agreed that Daniels’s dismissal would be varied to suspension without pay pending a resolution between the two sides. Conciliation talks at the Ministry of Labour failed and arbitration was ordered.
Minister of Labour Dr Nanda Gopaul told Stabroek News on Thursday that any resolution has to be in keeping whether the Terms of Reference which was agreed upon by both parties. The minister stated the Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle would be able to pronounce on whether or not arbitration was ongoing. When contacted, Ogle stated that that decision was up to the arbitrator, but reinforced that it was the agreed upon Terms of Reference which would govern any decision.
Akeel could not be reached for comment.
However, GuySuCo, for its part, is of the firm belief that arbitration is ongoing. It has cited a letter from Akeel, dated November 28th, 2014, where he advised the Union that “the Arbitration is NOT concluded until the Arbitrator presents his award to the Chief Labour Officer and the parties.” It said further that Akeel went further and invited the Union to a meeting to “continue the process” on December 2nd, 2014 but the union did not attend the meeting.
The state owned corporation reiterated that Daniels is not to return to work and his suspension will continue until an award is made.
Prior to the Akeel pronouncing that he could not make an award, he had invited both parties to consent to an amendment of the terms of reference to allow for an award as to what disciplinary action should be taken.
In a press statement on Wednesday, GAWU stated that it mattered not that the arbitration tribunal’s Secretary Dexter Semple had invited the union for talks on December 2. It maintained that Akeel, on November 26th, had stated “unambiguously that the Arbitration was at an end; this was recorded in the note that was received from you.”
GAWU further noted that the position was made after the union would not agree to an amendment of the Terms of Reference that was advanced. “…Against that background, the Union insists that Arbitration proceedings have come to an end,” it added.
An industry strike could be disastrous for both sides, with GuySuCo not yet meeting its already twice reduced annual sugar target of 216,000 tonnes and the corporation could withhold the Annual Production Incentive paid to workers. API pay has always been a contentious issue with the sugar corporation, which is currently $58 billion in debt. Last year, GuySuCo paid $381 million in API to sugar workers.
For the year GuySuCo has surpassed the 200,000-tonnes mark but has been forced push the harvest well into December to meet its target.
