Dear Editor,
“Drastic and unconscionable”, the term used by members of the Granger cabal to describe the severing of 375 workers by Troy Resources Inc. (TRI), a mining operation in Guyana. Mr. Raphael Trotman stated in a newspaper article “this is not the time of the year that we should see workers going home, they have homes, it’s Christmas”. This is a most unfortunate situation and we must all stand with these workers and push this company to deliver on its legal obligation to release their full severance package and final paychecks swiftly. It is also expected that the principles of the Termination and Severance Pay Act (the law) shall be complied with in full.
But why is Mr. Trotman attempting to play with our intelligence? Where was his empathy and respect for the rule of law when the sugar workers were being sent home by the then Granger Government in 2016 and 2017, close to the Christmas season? Isn’t this gross hypocrisy on the part of Mr. Trotman?
It was close to Christmas 2016 when some 1,100 sugar workers from Wales Estate were sent home without their severance pay in violation of the law. Most of those sugar workers had to wait for a year to receive their benefits; some even longer and not without GAWU (the sugar union) going to court to enforce this right against the uncaring and unconscionable actions of “Team Granger”. Today, some 3 years and 3 months after the cruel acts by Team Granger against the sugar workers, some 107 sugar workers from Wales Estate still have not received their severance pay. Even a court order from Chief Justice Roxane George has been ignored by Team Granger.
This entire nation must feel for all dismissed workers since behind every worker is a family and a weak family translates into a weak nation. This act from TRI has weakened our nation and must be condemned. But please Mr. Trotman, do not come today and pretend that you are so committed to the workers when your team did even worse to the workers of Guyana than TRI. To rub salt into the wounds of the families in the sugar belt, Mr. Granger has not offered a salary increase in 2019 to the sugar workers treating them like children of a lesser god.
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh