THE Guyana Sugar Corporation has just surpassed the 200,000 tonne mark as it presses ahead to achieve the targeted 264,000 in the face of strikes for higher wages and threatening weather. A source at the corporation confirmed that should the work press ahead, and with good weather, the corporation may even surpass 270,000 tonnes; but for this to happen, harvesting and grinding must continue until the first week of February.

It is believed that should the corporation continue to produce between 7,000 and 8,000 tonnes per week through February, taking into consideration a two-week Christmas break, it will surpass 270,000 tonnes for 2010. At the beginning of the year, the target announced was 280,000 tonnes. But this was subsequently revised downward owing to the challenges of labour and the weather.
Further, the source found it appalling that the workers are frowning on the prospect of working until this period to achieve not only the wage-tied target of 270,000 but to put more money in their pockets while doing so. Talks between the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union continued into the evening yesterday with a view to agreeing on wages for the year. The union expressed dissatisfaction with what had been proposed by GuySuCo last week, saying that this offer had not been made at the beginning of the year.
The two entities met on Monday at the 9th negotiating meeting on wage/salary increases for 2010 and for the first time since the announcement by the corporation of its wage/salary proposal for 2010. The corporation had proposed an across-the-board increase of five per cent should the production exceed 270,000 tonnes, the offer would decline to three per cent for a production of 260,000 to 269,000 tonnes; and should the production fall to 250,000 tonnes, a two per cent one-off, non-sustainable, increase would be awarded.
At Monday’s meeting, GAWU pointed out to the corporation that it (Guysuco) did not offer any increase in pay, the union said in a press release.
The union contended that the corporation, at the end of the year, would produce far below 250,000 tonnes of sugar, and therefore its offer in actuality would result in no pay increase and not even the one-off award.
The union was adamant that this year’s increase in pay proposed by the corporation must be related to this year. It said that the new proposal by the corporation to determine a wage increase cannot be honourable since it was made in November of the year and not in January.