Sugar workers are today expected to receive 2.72 days’ pay as the Annual Production Incentive (API) for last year’s output.
The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) had deadlocked on talks last year for the API and yesterday in a statement the union described the payout as “insignificant”.
This payout is also coming in the wake of an announcement by GuySuCo that there will be no pay increase for last year given the dire state of the sugar industry.
In a statement, GAWU noted that it had engaged in five meetings with GuySuCo – two under the chairmanship of the Chief Labour Officer (CLO) at conciliation and three between the parties (GAWU and GuySuCo) at the bilateral level on the API. It charged that GuySuCo took an uncompromising stand, deciding to award a day’s pay as API for every 85,000 tonnes, or part thereof, of sugar produced.
GAWU noted that no agreement had been reached between the parties.
The CLO at the last meeting on December 11, 2015 advised that he would brief his subject Minister who is the Chief Conciliator about the matter. The Union next heard from the CLO when he summoned a meeting with GAWU and GuySuCo on February 19, 2016. The union said that he did not report on the Minister’s view of the matter. The CLO then proceeded to declare the API conciliatory effort to be deadlocked.
GAWU said that between 2011 and 2014 the average API was 35,945 tonnes per day’s pay. Thus, sugar workers received 7.58 API days’ pay for a production of 236,506 tonnes sugar in 2011; 6.76 days’ pay for 218,060 tonnes sugar in 2012; 5 days’ pay for 186,807 tonnes sugar in 2013, and 4.5 days’ pay for 216,359 tonnes sugar in 2014.
GAWU said that it considered GuySuCo’s offer of one day’s pay for every 85,000 tonnes to be unjust and opposed it vehemently.
GuySuCo will now proceed with the API payment of 2.72 days’ pay for the 231,145 tonnes of sugar produced in 2015.
