Days after the National Assembly authorised government to spend over $2 billion in supplemen-tary funds for the payment of remaining severance to 2,198 laid off GuySuCo workers, Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln yesterday ordered that they be paid in full and with interest no later than January 15th of next year.
Despite promises by government that the remaining severance payments would be made in the second half of the year, the sugar workers filed the action for payment through their union, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and its attorney, Anil Nandlall, yesterday called the ruling a significant victory for the laid off workers.
Undertaking earlier this week to have an update for the court as to when the remaining severance payments would have been made, the attorney for GuySuCo, Nikhil Ramkarran, yesterday reported to Justice Corbin-Lincoln that the funds had been approved by the National Assembly, although he was unable to say the exact date the payments would be made.
He said he had not received instructions on this from GuySuCo/government.
On Wednesday night, both sides of the House approved $2.451 billion in supplementary funding for the payment of outstanding severance.
In the absence of being provided with a specific time when the payments would be made, the judge indicated that she would move ahead with making the order since the outstanding monies are available and GuySuCo acknowledges the payments to be made.
As a result, the judge ordered that the remaining 50% of severance be paid to the 2,198 workers together with interest at a rate of 6% from the day of severance, being December 29th, 2017 to yesterday’s date when the order was made; and thereafter at a rate of 4% until fully paid.
With the order being made, the judge indicated that the matter had essentially concluded.
While stating that he was disappointed that the judge did not order immediate payment, Nandlall said he was very happy that the workers had managed to get interest on the payments owed dating back to the day they were laid off.
He said it is a significant victory for the ex-workers, while noting that it will result in several million dollars more actually being paid out.
In total, 4,283 workers were laid off from the Skeldon, Rose Hall and East Demerara sugar estates.
GAWU, in its action, was seeking a declaration that they were entitled to their severance or redundancy allowances. An estimated quantum was not stated in the application.
In the application, GAWU had argued that since its workers were rendered redundant in accordance with the provisions of the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act, they were entitled to severance or redundancy allowances thereunder.
In an affidavit supporting GAWU’s application, its General Secretary, Seepaul Narine, said that the redundant workers were to receive their redundancy allowance/severance payments no later than December 29th, 2017, in accordance with their termination letters and in the spirit of Section 21 of the Termination of Employ-ment and Severance Pay Act.
He had, however, taken issue with the fact that at the filing of the court action in July of this year, the workers had been paid only a portion of the amount and argued that despite their and the union’s repeated demands for full payment of the balance, GuySuCo has failed and/or refused to do so.
They subsequently filed the court action while government had said that the remaining payments would be made no later than December 31st of this year.
By law, the severance payment ought to have been made at the time of termination of employment and the failure of both GuySuCo and the government to comply with the provision has attracted sharp criticism.
When pressed on Wednesday by Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira in the National Assembly, Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder did not commit to a date when the payments would be made but explained that he could only say “soon.”
