Frustrated at the delay in wages negotiations between the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and their union, GAWU, employees of the Uitvlugt Estate yesterday downed tools and called for speedy talks on pay increases dating back to 2019.
Despite an interim agreement in early 2020, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) is of the opinion that the pay increase should have been retroactive to 2019 instead of January 2020.
In 2020, the union had announced that it had reached an interim agreement for sugar workers with GuySuCo under which there would be a 5% rise in salaries, time-rated workers would receive an increase of $20 per hour and monthly-paid staffers would receive an increment of $4,100 per month.
General Secretary of the union, Aslim Singh yesterday told this newspaper that the wages negotiations have dragged out for close to three years and GuySuCo has not given a clear position.
“When we met on March 9, 2021 we thought they were going to respond to our proposal and bring this matter to an end but that didn’t happen. They said they will communicate with us at the end of March, that didn’t happen neither and we wrote to them on April 6th, we are still waiting for an acknowledgement of that letter,” Singh said as he explained that workers are frustrated.
He noted that discussions commenced in November 2020 and it has always been GuySuCo’s request for workers to be patient.
“They keep telling us bring a proposal and to ask workers to have patience but they have not dealt with the proposals in 2019 and 2020 how can we move on from there?” the union’s General Secretary questioned.
In the 2020 wages and salary proposal, the union had asked for a 12% increases for all workers.
“They shared that GuySuCo has boasted of massive investments in the fields and factories but there is no such boisterousness when it comes to addressing the plight of the workers. The workers contended in as much as the Corporation recognized the need for investment in its physical assets, its human assets also required some level of investment as well,” GAWU said in a statement yesterday.
The statement said workers during the protest pointed to the pay freeze they suffered during the term of the APNU+AFC Coalition and reminded the corporation that the earnings of many are just above the national minimum wage.
“The Union, for its part, remains open to frank discussions with the Corpora-tion. The GAWU and the workers are eager to find an amicable settlement that is fair to all sides. It is our belief that a settlement could be within reach, but it requires an open mind on all sides,” GAWU asserted before emphasizing that no stone should be left unturned as the workers, the union and the corporation put their best foot forward in reinvigorating the sugar industry.
Meanwhile, a source familiar with GuySuCo’s financials explained to this newspaper that the corporation cannot fund an increase at the moment and will have to rely on central government for assistance to meet wages and salary obligations.
The 2019 5% increase when calculated will require some $1.5 billion annually and with the corporation operating at a loss they are in no position to pay increases.
The $9 billion subvention to the corporation on President Irfaan Ali taking office in August 2020 has been tapped and continues to be used to fund capital investments and carry out much needed maintenance on the aged factories.
The source stressed that while there are efforts to turn the industry around, the actions by workers will only continue to hurt the corporation as every day with no sugar produced they are unable to meet their targets and have an adequate supply for markets.
