In the wake of its planned closure later this year, groups of workers of the Wales Sugar Estate on Monday attended meetings with GuySuCo officials to discuss their fate and many were left displeased with the decisions made.
The main sugar union, GAWU, on Monday condemned these meeting which were held in its absence and in a press release said that over 50 planters were reportedly told by GuySuCo officials that if they did not to take up employment at Uitvlugt Estate and did not agree to accept severance pay within the three days, it would be regarded by GuySuCo that they had opted to leave the Estate’s employ.
“GAWU condemns the so-called interviews at the instance of GuySuCo with the workers and the high-handedness adopted. The Union also wishes to point out that the interviews are being conducted behind the backs of the workers’ Unions – GAWU and NAACIE”, the union said.
Some of the workers told Stabroek News on Monday that they were given a few options but that did not make them feel secure about their future. The groups of workers who went into the meetings separately were from the Creole, planting and shovel gangs, mechanical tillage operators and agronomy hands.
Stabroek News caught up with the mechanical tillage operators after they came out of the meeting.
Cyril Joseph said they were told that some of them would be sent to the Uitvlugt estate, some would remain at Wales until the end of 2016 while others would receive severance benefits.
The workers who would turn 55 this year were also given the option of going on “early pension with full benefits.”
Explaining how the severance benefits would be calculated, they said those with 10 years of service would receive two weeks of payment multiplied by 10 and “if they have 20 years service, the next 10 years would be calculated by three weeks payment.”
Some of the planters said that they would receive severance benefits or would be transferred to Uitvlugt. They said they were also told that if they do not choose they would lose all their severance benefits.
Most of the workers from that group accepted the severance benefits but one man; Dyanand Sham was not pleased with the way his years of service were calculated.
He told this newspaper that he worked at the estate for 30 years but was told that he would only receive benefits for 22 years.
At first he refused to accept and told the officials that he was unable to make a decision because he felt he was “robbed.”
He questioned: “how come no one from the union was not there to represent us.” The officials responded that they had already discussed it with the union. Eventually, he decided to choose to “cut cane” at Uitvlugt because he could not take the chance of losing more years of service. Harryraj Seemangal, a union representative from the agronomy hand gang said they were told that seven workers with the longest years of service would be sent to Uitvlugt. The other 19, they said, would remain at Wales “for the rest of the year.” He said they questioned what work they would be doing and were only told, “it would be normal work but it would not be cane-cutting.”
They have refused to go to Uitvlugt to work and according to them, “eventually if all of the workers refuse to go then we would get the severance benefit as well.”
The workers reminded this newspaper that: “the Minister [of Agriculture] had said that no one would be redundant until the end of October… but GuySuCo is doing its own thing.”
They lamented that with them being sent to Uitvlugt, the fields at Wales would not be maintained and all that was planted for the second crop would die.
“Why invest in all that money,” they questioned. “GuySuCo would not be able to make the 24,000 tonnes of sugar for the year…”
Some of the workers from the weeding gang were going home from work when this newspaper visited the village.
They had not been called to a meeting as yet but were worried about what their future would be at the end of August when their work would be completed.
Adverting to statements by government officials that Wales workers would not face retrenchment, GAWU said that on Friday no less than 60 workers undertaking various tasks in the fields and the factory were given marching orders by officials of GuySuCo. GAWU said that they were told that they were no longer engaged in employ of the Estate on the ground that they were temporary workers. These workers worked previous crops at the Estate, the union said.
