CAPTAINS and fishermen employed with the fisheries department of Prettipaul Investments have taken industrial action against the company.They allege they have been robbed by the company on the weight of shrimp delivered, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars being deducted from their paychecks.
Many of the the striking workers, some 196 of them in toto, assembled outside the gates of the McDoom, East Bank Demerara facility yesterday, declaring they had no alternative but to take strike action as their employers have no regards for them.
They also allege that the company has been falsifying the weight on their catches, and charging them for what they had already delivered. But efforts to confirm this with management proved futile.
When the Guyana Chronicle arrived on the scene early yesterday, a number of men were gathered outside the compound, refusing to meet again with their employers. The men said when they met with management on Sunday, the owner of the company chased them out of the office, which they felt was very disrespectful of him.
As such, they’ve refused to meet with management again, unless the owner apologises for treating them in the manner in which he did.

NEVER BEFORE

One of the captains said he has been with the company since 1974, which was before it changed hands, and Prittipaul became the new owner. And in all those 41 years on the job, he said, he has never had such an experience. They have always used one size of basket to pack the catches of shrimp, he said. Each ship is required to fill several baskets, each with the capacity of holding at least 80lbs of shrimp, and have never before through the years fallen below that.
He explained that upon delivery one day recently, he was called in by a manager who averaged one of the baskets weighed less than 70lbs.
He said he had cause to tell the manager that as far as he knew, each basket has the capacity to hold no less than 80lbs of shrimp. This was proven to be true when the same basket of shrimp was weighed in front of him, and came in at 94 pounds, topping even his own average.
“To the best of my knowledge since we are working on trawlers, there is one size of basket we are using. One basket of shrimp can’t drop below 80lbs.”
He said it was from that day on that he noticed an unusual fluctuation in the weight of shrimp whenever the crew delivers a catch.
“From then, it been going down,” the man said, adding that the best he’d heard was last Sunday, when the fishermen delivered and were told that their weight on a full basket of shrimp was only 42lbs.

A WEIGHTY MATTER
Some of the crew members also weighed in on the situation, expressing their anger and disgust at what was happening. They said they were family men, and that they worked hard, seven days a week at sea with only one day off before returning to work.
“We work night and day; a drag comes up every three hours,” one crew member explained. Another said the company would give them a target which it expects them to deliver, and they always worked to fulfil that requirement. He said that even if they do fgall short at times, it would not be by a significant amount.
Whenever the fishermen deliver shrimp that is less than the required amount, they are responsible for paying the company for the difference between the required target and the amount delivered.
They are paid between G$10 and G$14 for each pound to be divided among a crew of seven on each of the 28 boats. They also pay NIS and other relevant taxes. Their responsibility, they said, is to catch the shrimp, clean, process and pack them in ice buckets.
They work seven days at sea, with just one day off before returning for another seven days. They said they are prepared to protest for as long as the company takes to make right their weight.
“The weight that we are getting is not right; we need our weight for our shrimp,” said one of the fishermen. Another said he’s been working with the company since he was 14; now in his mid-30s, he’s still the main bread-winner of his family.
The men explained that an arrangement was made that Prettipaul take 5,000 pounds of the catch for themselves, for which payment is excluded, and would pay the fishermen for the remaining weight.
They said whenever they deliver baskets that were not full, they would give those over to the company without any request for an extra monetary reward.
While many of them have made it clear that they are not afraid of voicing their concerns, some fear they may have already be identified for dismissal, and are seeking the attention of Minister of Labour within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes to help.
When the Guyana Chronicle contacted Chief Labour Officer Aubrey Ogle, he said he was extending an invitation to the workers to visit the Department of Labour at the earliest opportunity.
The workers are not unionized, and Ogle told the Guyana Chronicle that while two trade unions have already visited with interest in their affairs, no one voted to be represented.