Dr. Luncheon accuses GAWU of failing to take
– says union’s views on sugar industry ‘woefully one-sided’
‘Sugar is bigger than the sugar workers; sugar is bigger than the union; sugar is about Guyana.” – Dr. Luncheon
By Priya Nauth
THE Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) has failed to “take a comprehensive view” of sugar, according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon.

The Cabinet Secretary was speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday at the Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.

“The response by the main sugar union, GAWU, must be seen as an effort by the union to respond to the troubles in the sugar sector and perceptions about its cause and how to deal with it,” he said.

“But the administration takes issue with the presentation by the union. The union in its presentation in the public has failed utterly to take a comprehensive view of sugar,” Luncheon declared.

“Sugar is more than a matter with sugar workers. Sugar is about local industry, it’s about conditions in the rural communities. Equally important, it is about the economy of Guyana and economic performances,” he posited.

“And for a submission by the union that does not take into consideration such important factors – they run the risk of appearing ‘utterly partisan and single-minded’ in responding to a situation that exists on the ground,” Luncheon said.

He reminded that the union was offered a role in management of the Corporation, recalling that at the last congress, President Bharrat Jagdeo “threw out to the union the offer to take over management”.

“Since in 1992 and a little bit on, the then President offered GAWU membership on the Board,” the Cabinet Secretary further recalled.

“A lot of the accounts that the union has seen it fit to resort to and to justify their contentions, their views relate to weaknesses in management (but) the union continues to decline effective participation in management. They have been invited and we continue to invite the union to be involved in management,” Luncheon charged.

He repeated, “The union has to be involved and the place is reserve for them on the Board, and it is up to the union to decide how and when they would be involved.”

The HPS stated that the union’s financing and analysis of finances in the industry is ‘woefully one-sided’.

“How the union could ignore cost factors; the implication of the debt to put the factory in place – how they could ignore the deficit occurring regularly and how they seem to suggest that currency fluctuation is going to be the saviour of this sector is mind boggling.”

“The long and short of it – the union is defending the sugar workers but as I started out saying, sugar is bigger than the sugar workers, sugar is bigger than the union – sugar is about Guyana,” Dr. Luncheon stressed.

“Our thrust is the union is a repository of enormous influence in this sector. They know a lot; we got problems with their solutions, we have problem with their avoidance of what we consider necessary interventions for a comprehensive solution – they have been avoiding that,” Luncheon asserted.

“And we feel that there seems to be a decision not to be a part of management, not to go on the board, not to take seriously the administration’s offers about having a role bigger than just being a union and being critical, accounting and analyse it from a union perspective what is happening in this sector. We take an issue with that position and that attitude,” the HPS said.

“We are calling them and we continue to say to the players, we need to meet and plan. It is not enough to react from an isolated perspective,” he added.