Wales Estate sugar workers are confused about why they have not received their severance payouts, in the light of their unions saying that an interim injunction it secured against GuySuCo should not prevent the entity from paying.
But the corporation insists that the injunction, secured by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), has put severance arrangements on hold.
Frustrated workers told Stabroek News that they are facing financial difficulties as they have not been earning for about four months. The injunction was filed two weeks before the workers were set to receive their severance payments.
The last court hearing was held on June 19 and workers say GAWU had promised to get back to them afterward.
“But we are not hearing from them; they are keeping us in the dark. It is big issue and they are keeping it silent. We don’t really know what is transpiring…,” one worker, who asked not to be named, told Stabroek News.
“People are suffering; we are finding it hard. GuySuCo told us that we cannot get the payment because of the injunction and we are not sure how long that [court case] would drag on,” another added.
When contacted, GAWU’s General Secretary Seepaul Narine confirmed that the last hearing was held on June 19 and that a date was supposed to be fixed for hearing.
Asked about GuySuCo’s claim of not being able to pay the severance until after the case, Narine said that the union’s lawyer, Anil Nandlall, does not share that view.
When told that the workers were having issues with GAWU over the timing of the injunction, he maintained that “the problem is with GuySuCo.”
Narine was also asked about the union’s willingness to pay the workers from a credit union and secure a refund from GuySuCo, but he responded, “We don’t owe the people money….”
One hundred and six workers accepted severance and according to them, some 95 are “on the breadline,” while the remaining 11 went back to work because they could not wait on the outcome of the court case.
The unions had secured the injunction restraining GuySuCo from proceeding with plans to sever the employment of workers on the Wales Estate unless it consulted with them, in accordance with section 12 of the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act.
Wilbert Damon, a worker from the tillage gang, told Stabroek News that “GuySuCo lay we off, so we are not contributing to the union anymore and they should not block us from getting our money….”
He said the union should not have waited “when we are [almost] ready to get our money to file the injunction. We are the ones who are suffering – we are off the job about four months and we have children to mind.”
He also noted that some of the workers who “do not have long-term service went back on the job. They [GuySuCo] promised to put us back in the same position at Uitvlugt but we can’t take that chance.”
He said he is a machine operator and if he goes there, he is not sure if the same job would be available there for him.
According to him, “Some of the workers who went there regret their decision. They are getting a lot of victimisation within the workplace.”
Damon lamented that he “worked at GuySuCo for 30 years and was earning $415 per hour. Calculate that for 40 hours per week, I only get $16,000, plus I have to pay NIS and union dues. We did not benefit from any wage increase for 2015… and the cost of living going up.”
He said he was looking forward to receiving his severance pay because he can start a business. “I am living near a school and I could sell some snacks or even invest in cattle or something,” he added.
He currently has a temporary job to maintain his family and is “still looking for a permanent job.”
Cyril Joseph, who is also from the tillage gang, had questioned, “How long they think the little money we have would last? It almost finish and we don’t know what we would do. How people would survive? They put us out of our daily bread and now they can’t give us payment. They were supposed to fulfil their promise.”
According to him, “They have people suffering; if they want to close the estate, they should have a plan in place for the workers first. If they want to start something else, they should have started the preparation already. How can they just shut the door on 105 workers…?”
The workers told Stabroek News that when they were invited to a meeting to discuss the option of severance, they asked that the union be invited.
