FOLLOWING a meeting between the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) yesterday, it was agreed that factory workers of the Blairmont Estate will resume duty from today.
Minister of Agriculture, Leslie Ramsammy confirmed last Wednesday at a press conference that operations had been closed at the Blairmont Estate since Monday last due to strike action undertaken by factory workers.
In addition, cane harvesters were also unable to work since there was no work available for them as a result of the strike by the factory workers. Consequently 485 punts of cane have perished.
The strike came as a result of delayed payments by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and dissatisfaction with a recent job evaluation. However, Dr Ramsammy advised that the outstanding payments will be made by today.
He explained that there was a delay in making the payments, not because GUYSUCO wanted to delay it, but rather, because there were some queries made by workers and extra time was needed to rectify the situation since additional cheques had to be made.
The workers also resorted to strike action because they felt that they were not placed in a grade that is consistent with their work level after the job evaluation.
According to the minister, more than 1,000 tonnes of sugar has been lost as a result of the various strike actions within the industry over the past month.
Efforts to reach officials from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) yesterday proved futile.