PRESIDENT of Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Mr. Komal Chand has reiterated that the sacrifices of the Enmore Martyrs did not go in vain.

He was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle on the 61st anniversary of the June 16, 1948 shooting to death, by colonial Police, of five sugar workers, Lallabajee, Pooran, Harry, Surujballi and Rambarran.

Chand recalled that the five brave men, who made the supreme sacrifice to secure better conditions of work from their employers – the sugar barons and colonial masters at the time – were part of a mass struggle to end the ‘cut-and-load’ system on sugar estates, for improved wages and living conditions and recognition of Guyana Industrial Workers Union (GIWU), the forerunner of GAWU.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to them because their massacre enlightened so many Guyanese of the conditions, the plight and the treatment that was meted out to them,” Chand said.

He said persons like the late President Dr Cheddi Jagan helped to speak out against the problems by informing the public.

Chand said Dr Jagan, who was very much moved by the 1948 killings, made a silent pledge that he would dedicate his entire life to the cause of the struggle of the Guyanese people against bondage and exploitation.

Chand said there is a connection between the struggle of the five and the changes that followed in the sugar industry, including recommendations by the Venn Commission, recognition of GAWU and political independence.

“Their sacrifice was not in vain and our generation must remember them so that we should not allow those hard conditions to come back to our country,” the GAWU President exhorted.

He said, apart from protesting against the poor working conditions, the workers were also dissatisfied with the representation at that time by Man Power Citizens Association (MPCA).

“It was supported by not only sugar workers but the GIWU that was founded in 1947. It fully backed the workers and fully supported them,” Chand stated.

JAGANS
He reminded that the Jagans (Dr Cheddi Jagan and his wife, Janet) also supported the struggle of the workers by publishing leaflets and pamphlets and organising soup kitchens.

Chand said the force that was used against the five martyrs was uncalled for and an inquiry into their death was conducted.

He remembered that the British Government appointed the Venn Commission, which looked into a number of conditions that workers were very much concerned about, such as housing and drinking water.

“There were a number of recommendations that came out of that commission and many of them were addressed, so that protest and the killing of the workers helped to bring to the nation’s attention the atrocious conditions that existed in the sugar industry,” Chand observed.

He added: “The denunciation of what has happened and the conditions of the industry has helped to bring about the changes that occurred after that incident.”

Chand related that that struggle pushed the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the forerunner of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), not only to speak out for the betterment of workers but champion the independence cause.

He said the struggle intensified for the recognition of a union of the workers’ choice and that vindicated GAWU’s call, over the years, that it has the support of the overwhelming majority of workers.

Shortly after the recognition of the union in 1976, the industry was completely nationalised, Chand reminded.

“Since the nationalisation and the recognition of GAWU, the conditions of the workers began to improve,” he noted.

Chand said one of the improvements include the removal of the sugar levy which was imposed in 1974 by the then Government.

“So, over the years, there has been improvement,” he maintained.

Chand said one of the most important challenge of the industry since its complete nationalisation is the price cut of 36 per cent by the European Union (EU).

PRICE
The GAWU President said, from September 30 this year, the price cut will rob the industry of 25 per cent or $9 billion of its revenue.

“It is now a big challenge of the industry to be able to survive that cut and be able to make the industry viable,” he lamented.

However, Chand said the Skeldon Sugar Modernisation Project is expected to help reduce the cost of production, because the industry has to be now more competitive and see better production and productivity.

He said the industry must also improve efficiency and ensure there is production according to economy of scale in order to make it viable.

Chand also mentioned the new Enmore packaging plant that is scheduled for completion in September 2010, and said: “That will enable the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to have more packaged sugar of a better quality sold to the local market and for export.”

He acknowledged that packaged sugar from Blairmont Estate is already being produced but said the growing demand and the better pricing necessitate GuySuCo having more packaged sugar available.

That will certainly enhance the revenue of the corporation and help to mitigate the loss arising out of the EU price cut, Chand posited.

He emphasised that the sugar industry is very important and continues to play a very important role in the economy.

“The union is supportive of the plan of the corporation to make the industry once again viable.

“The union recognises that thousands of workers and Guyanese indirectly depend upon the sugar industry and should the sugar industry be allowed to suffer and should there be closure of any estate, it will have serious social consequences not only loss of jobs but to the country,” Chand said.