Dear Editor,
Reference is made to “GAWU says increased pay only way to turn around sugar” (Sep 4). I concur. The sugar workers are not alone in the quest for a decent wage. Even state enterprise and public servant want a decent income. A livable wage is pivotal for the development of the industry and any business. You can’t pay starvation wage and expect the sugar or any state enterprise to turn around. GuySuCo is struggling to retain workers with a turnout of just 50%. Workers earn more daily in doing odds and ends and don’t have to put in as many hours as on the fields or in the factories. They are the lowest paid in all industries, a starvation age that averages some $70K monthly, about the same amount the lowest paid government workers earn.
Sugar workers toil under hot sun or rain utilizing dangerous tools at great risk of injury. When the factory is not grinding, workers get a small stipend that can’t buy food for the week. Other state workers are guaranteed a minimum income that qualifies them for NIS; not all sugar workers receive that benefit. It is noted that while cost of living has been steadily increasing and other workers were getting increases, sugar workers were denied increases so their real wages declined considerably even as inflation ballooned out of control. How does one justify increased wages when GuySuCo is losing billions?
At times owners or managers need to increase wages or labour costs to boost productivity and revenues. In the short run, it increases costs of production which can be mitigated by reducing management costs. In the long run, productivity will increase gradually narrowing the gap between operational costs and revenues. Management can also be restructured and estates function autonomously as separate entities, each managing its own operations to reduce costs. Another option is for sugar workers to be offered land (say ten acres) to grow cane which is then sold to the factories similar to private cane farming. Private cane farming was very profitable when factories were in operation. GuySuCo should consider giving incentives to workers. Honours should be given to say the top fifty workers in terms of tonnage cut, acres of fields planted, etc. The company must celebrate achievements of talented workers with dinners or certificates.
On a related note, a rejoinder to my commentary on your editorial on GuySuCo, Sep 3, one of the reasons for the sorry state of affairs of the company, is the failure to decommission the factories of the shuttered estates.
This resulted in destruction of the factories, making it difficult to get them back in operation. Wales was cannibalized, the factories and offices were overrun with thick bushes; grass was growing out of buildings and the factories. It has been a total mess to clean up costing billions. While some $21B was allocated to GuySuCo over last two years, over half, $11 B, was spent on rehabilitating the estates and billions more on equipment.
Sincerely,
Vishnu Bisram
