The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union yesterday threw their support behind the cane harvesters who were transferred from the Rose Hall Estate as a result of its closure, and have been on strike since last Wednesday morning calling for severance before they return to the estate.
The workers on strike have been gathering at the Canje Turn each morning and marching in protest to the New Amsterdam Freedom House in a call to meet President Irfaan Ali or Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo as the collective request is to have severance be paid to them.
The workers were transferred from the Rose Hall Estate to the Albion and Blairmont estates following the closure of Rose Hall, however, recently management had a meeting where the possibility of bringing back the workers to the Rose Hall Estate was discussed. After receiving news of this, the workers went on strike stressing that they want to return to the Rose Hall Estate but believe they should be paid severance from the estates they are now attached too.
Harvey Tombran, GAWU Supervisor in Berbice, explained that on July, 15, GuySuCo engaged the union where the strategy to harvest cane at the Rose Hall Estate which will soon be recommissioned, was discussed – part of which includes that the transferred workers would be brought from the Albion and Blairmont estates.
However, those workers believe that they deserve some sort of compensation before moving back to the Rose Hall Estate. Most called for severance packages to be given out after which they will seek employment at the Rose Hall Estate as cane harvesters instead of being transferred without any compensation.
Tombran yesterday reiterated the workers’ position, “Their demand is to have a severance package.”
According to Tombran, following the three-day strike, on Saturday the Union along with GuySuCo’s Agriculture Director, Vishnu Panday met with about fifty cane harvesters where it was “declared that all we need is to have our severance.”
According to Tombran, Panday relayed that he would inform his superiors and the government through the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, of the workers’ demands. The workers were told to expect some feedback by today (Tuesday).
Tombran yesterday explained that the issue is that after Rose Hall Estate was closed some workers were given their severance, then after the PPP/C government returned to office those severed workers were given a $250,000 cash grant along with hampers and have now regained employment at the Rose Hall Estate while the transferred workers “are left to hang out and dry… They haven’t received any severance, they haven’t received any package, no hampers or nothing and they are here struggling.”
Tombran continued, “They even mentioned that they were affected by the 30 odd weeks of heavy rainfall and the flooding at Albion that affected the cultivation and nobody came to their rescue and so they are protesting… At the end of the day all that they need is to have their package which is the severance pay.”
Notably, the PPP/C while in Opposition had an ongoing exercise distributing hampers to both severed and transferred workers – which was covered multiple times by this newspaper.
Meanwhile, as of yesterday over 200 workers remained on strike as the cane harvesters were joined by planters, weeders and other transferred workers.
The workers yesterday said that they understand that after receiving severance it would mean their employment is no longer valid and that if they were to seek new employment at the Rose Hall Estate then their years of service would not be intact. They stressed collectively that it is a risk they are willing to take.
Additionally, the workers noted, that when they were transferred it was done without any communication or conversations with them. Calling the transfer forced, they stressed that they would have preferred to have had a conversation with those in charge then before being transferred.
