Giving GuySuCo one week to analyse wage proposals and begin talks, President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) Komal Chand warned yesterday that another strike looms if negotiations fail.
Following a meeting yesterday between the union and GuySuCo—the first since the union ended a three-day strike on Wednesday, GAWU yesterday accused the corporation of stalling wage negotiations and said it would deliberate on the situation at a General Council meeting one week from today.
“That is what the meeting will discuss but I don’t want to preempt what will happen but it is a possible decision of the next meeting,” Chand told Stabroek News.
The union called a three-day strike that began last Sunday to protest the stalling of wage talks by the corporation. The strike came at a time when the troubled industry was seeing better production.
According to a statement issued yesterday by GAWU, the GuySuCo delegation, led by CEO Errol Hanoman, informed that it could not proceed with negotiations at this time. “The CEO having been pressed to provide an answer said that he could not advise on a date and informed the Union’s delegation that the negotiations would begin after GuySuCo has obtained a framework in which the negotiations would take place. It is implied from the answer that the CEO is awaiting the framework from the Government possibly via the Corporation’s Board,” it said.
GAWU said it is dismayed at this delay in the proceedings and it will convene another General Council next Saturday to discuss GuySuCo’s stance. “However, we are looking forward, in keeping with good industrial practices and relationships, that GuySuCo will summon a meeting before the General Council meets, the union added.
GAWU has argued that collective bargaining usually takes place around this time each year. However, the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the dire state of the industry has clearly put this routine on hold.
Chand said that the union made a decision that it will give the GuySuCo team one week to get its business in order, failing which there is the possibility of another strike. “We are giving them up to next week. We want to hear from them how soon we can reach. They said that they haven’t yet gotten a framework to deal with the union’s claim for an increase in pay,” he said
“You have the whole week now to try to get your framework that you want to have from whoever, government or the board or whoever and then decide. They need to get some time…so before our next meeting at the General Council level to discuss this matter we are giving time to get the framework but we are urging GuySuCo to start talks with us or give us a date when we will talk,” he added.
However, the GAWU President pointed out that GuySuCo might be able to stave off the strike if it puts up a persuasive case on its financial plight. “We haven’t reached the point of striking but you need to meet with us and justify your position, whichever position you may take. Who knows, you may convince us… you know, ‘We don’t have money’,” he stated.
GuySuCo has said that it was awaiting a report on the CoI into the sugar industry before it determined a way forward with regards to the union and negotiations.
For three months, commissioners of that CoI heard from 41 contributors ranging from former GuySuCo CEOs to the heads of the main sugar unions, private cane farmers, representative from Tate and Lyle and other stakeholders in relation to the needs of the sugar sector.
The commission comprised Chairman Vibert Parvatan as well as Professor Clive Thomas (Financial and Economic Analysis), Dr. Harold Davis and John Piggot (Agronomists), John Dow and Joseph Alfred (Factory Operations), George James (Sugar Processing), Nowrang Persaud (Industrial Relations), Claude Housty (Marketing), Seepaul Narine, GAWU’s representative and Omadatt Chandan who served as the Commission’s Secretary.
The eleven-member Commission, during its investigation, was supposed to develop a 15-year plan expected to bring the debt-laden and loss-making industry back to profitability and ensure long-term environmental and economic sustainability.
