Dear Editor,
Recently, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) had announced production figures showing that the corporation had consistently surpassed its weekly targets and is heading for a record-breaking production year. This significant turnaround in the fortunes of the company is taking place under the leadership of Professor Clive Thomas, Chairman of the new GuySuCo Board. It should be noted that the progress in production in the industry has taken place while the Commission of Inquiry (COI) was conducting its work to find out the reasons for the crisis in the entity and to make recommendations on the way forward.
Given the large sums of public money that were put into GuySuCo to keep it afloat over several years, the nation welcomed the news that the sugar company has achieved increases in production, something it had failed to do for several years. This development, if allowed to continue, will result in a reduction in the amount of taxpayer dollars that are being pumped into the company, This development augurs well for all the stakeholders ‒ workers, unions, government and the citizens of Guyana. It is therefore only reasonable to expect that everything which should be done is done to ensure that this positive development is not hindered.
Despite political differences it is fair to say that as a nation, we have national consensus on the role sugar has played in helping to shape Guyana. Its importance to the country is tremendous and cannot be denied. Responsible action by all players in the industry is needed at this critical juncture if the industry is to survive. It was therefore surprising when the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union, (GAWU), fully aware of what is at stake, instructed sugar workers to take strike action under the spurious claim that the terms and conditions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement were being violated by the company. GAWU’s attempts to justify the strike action failed miserably. It was clear to all and sundry that given the inseparable bond that the leadership of the union has with the opposition PPP/C, the real motive behind GAWU’s action was political.
Mr Komal Chand who is not only the President of GAWU, but is also a PPP/C Member of Parliament, is on record expressing his and the union’s support for the government’s decision to have a COI into GuySuCo’s operations. This expression of support can be interpreted as a public admission by Mr Chand that the previous administration had run GuySuCo into bankruptcy. GAWU was integrally involved in the work of the commission and was privy to all of its decisions. It was represented on the commission by one of its high level officials, Mr Seepaul Naraine, the General Secretary of the union. Objectively, the issue facing GuySuCo/GAWU and other unions in the industry is plain economics. The challenges that confront the industry are manifold and extremely difficult to resolve. One of the questions which will have to be addressed is, can a bankrupt company afford increases in wages and at the same time retain the same size of its work force?
I will submit that no responsible trade union leader faced with GuySuCo’s situation ($82 billion debt), should, at the first signs of increased production, call a strike for increased wages and salaries. I believe that Mr Chand and GAWU’s actions were not responsible trade union behaviour. To simply invoke the need for discussions on increased wages at such a critical period was reckless and opened the nation’s sugar workers to public ridicule. The government’s decision to make the sugar workers, GAWU’s leadership and the nation aware of what a strike in the industry at this juncture would mean for the country seems to have forced the PPPC leadership to rethink its intention to manipulate the sugar workers to put pressure on the APNU+AFC administration. It appears that the PPP/C has come to grips with the fact that to ask the new government to do overnight what they failed to do in 23 years is an unreasonable demand and will isolate the party from the rest of the nation.
Guyana’s sugar workers played an important role in the decision of GAWU to opt for “incentive talks” with GuySuCo, rather than strike action. It appears that the workers are unwilling to strike at a time when the industry is showing signs of recovery. Workers realized that their long-term interest lies in restoring the industry to economic viability, and have demonstrated their resolve to resist the political machinations of the PPP/C. They know that the government and the GuySuCo board are doing their best to prevent a collapse of the industry, which will result in grave hardship to workers and their families. I congratulate the sugar workers on the step they have taken.
Well done sugar workers; the future of GuySuCo lies in your hands.
Yours faithfully,
Tacuma Ogunseye