GuySuCo calls on GAWU and its membership to help foster…
– in solving issues affecting the Industry
– GAWU threatens countrywide strike action from today

GAWU’S President Mr. Komal Chand addresses the union’s representatives from the various estates at the LBI training centre yesterday. (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)

THE Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo) yesterday withdrew from a planned wages and salaries negotiation with the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), which was scheduled to be hosted at the LBI training building, East Coast Demerara.

The Corporation, in a statement last evening, affirmed that it will not negotiate under duress.

It said the decision to withdraw from the talks is in keeping with standard Industrial Relations practices which dictate that discussions should not take place in an atmosphere of duress.

GuySuCo said this position stems from the fact that a section of workers attached to the LBI Estate resorted to strike action to vent their disapproval of the Corporation’s wage offer for the year 2009 among other issues.

The Corporation made it clear that to resort to strike action while the negotiations are ongoing is seen as a breach of good faith and an attempt to pressure GuySuCo into submission and place its negotiating team in a vulnerable position.

“Such a move is only counter-productive to the task at hand and serves to delay the conclusion of the negotiations,” GuySuCo stated.

It also said strike action at Diamond, as is the case at LBI, is unwarranted.

At a meeting with Management, GAWU requested that a panel comprising of representatives from both sides be set up to review the plans for the future of the Diamond cultivation.

“That engagement is still ongoing as GuySuCo remains committed to ensuing that workers’ interests remain paramount,” the Corporation stated.

To this end, the Corporation said it has even found itself having to pay wages at the expense of its suppliers and creditors.

The Corporation, however, indicated that open to dialogue and discussion it expects all stakeholders to appreciate the current plight of the Industry and the efforts being made to return it to viability.

“The Guyana Sugar Corporation is therefore calling on the Union and workers, as key and responsible stakeholders to work together in fostering a climate of partnership to solve the issues affecting the sugar industry,” the Corporation stated.

“They can demonstrate their commitment by resuming work in the shortest possible time so that a continuation of the talks can be facilitated,” GuySuCo urged.

PLANNED COUNTRY-WIDE STRIKE ACTION
But in an invited comment yesterday, GAWU’s President Mr. Komal Chand said all sugar workers across the country are expected to go on strike today.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Chand pointed out that the move follows a decision by GuySuCo to withdraw from the second conciliation meeting with the union at the LBI Estate training centre.

According to him, the union’s representatives from the various estates were peeved by the treatment meted out by the Corporation and have agreed to take industrial action.

He said he was told by the Corporation that its representatives will not attend the meeting because cane harvesters at the LBI Estate are on strike over a wage issue.

Chand pointed out that the shop steward and union officials at the LBI Estate have advised him that the workers there are on strike over the inability of GuySuCo to agree with the union on the weekly production target for last week.

Workers each crop work to achieve a weekly production target as well as the production target for the crop.

The GAWU President explained that the second crop started late, resulting in the continuation of operation in the non-schedule grinding week, and the need for setting of targets for this period.

Chand said the latest action by GuySuCo is reprehensible and provocative because the strike at the LBI Estate is centred on a target dispute, not over wages as the Corporation believes.

He said the union’s representatives are strongly of the view that the move by the Corporation was uncalled for, as the industrial action by the workers was totally unrelated to the wages discussion which is under the supervision of a senior Officer at the Ministry of Labour.

The current crop is expected to produce well over 160,000 tonnes of sugar, a target the top GAWU official said seems difficult to achieve given the prevailing circumstances.

Chand pointed out that the Company might not be able to meet the revised production target of 250,000 tonnes of sugar for the year but is optimistic the industry’s performance will be better than the previous year.

He also lauded the rehabilitation work, expansion programme and other efforts by GuySuCo to help the industry recover from the poor performance over the past few years, particularly last year.

GuySuCo had reported earlier this year that heavy rainfall between January and March had resulted in a shortfall of 6,000 tonnes in their production target for the first crop this year.

But the CEO of the Corporation Mr. Errol Hanoman said though the 6,000 tonne shortfall meant they were only able to produce 83,000 tonnes of sugar in the first crop, there is strong optimism that the steady efforts of his management team will lead to higher productivity in the months ahead.

Last year, the high level of rainfall, poor workers turnout and strikes affected the completion of the Company’s field programme, resulting in an annual production of 226,268 tonnes of sugar compared to the 226,482 tonnes produced the previous year.