– sugar industry still requires service, says Minister Persaud
DESCRIBED as a fitting Fathers Day gift from the government, workers of the Diamond sugar estate, whose services ended along with the estate’s operations last year, signed for their severance pay cheques yesterday. In the presence of heavily armed security and staff from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), some 341 retrenched workers were given their cheques at the Diamond Secondary School, while 40 others were queried.
Long-serving employees of the estate were among the first to receive their cheques , some of whom received up to $2M. Among them was 55-year old Choomattie Kaworu who served the estate for more than three decades.
The others were Alexander Amman, Seelochan Balkaran, Seeram Seecharan, Emanuel Harris and Tracy Grey.
A computation methodology system was used to calculate the workers’ years of services on the estate before the payment was delivered.
The computation, according to the agreement between GuySuCo and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), is based on 52 weeks income before the actual date of severance.
GuySuCo has assured that the payment is transparent and follows careful verification and auditing.
The remuneration was initially set for June 14, but a query from GAWU resulted in a postponement of the process, much to the dismay of the workers who were part of a legal battle for their monies since last year.
The workers for months had sought intervention at the level of the government and the union as they opposed the decision that no severance pay would have been given to them when their services were terminated at the end of the sugar estate’s last crop.
GAWU had challenged the decision after filing a court action against GuySuCo on behalf of the field workers; the snail’s pace at which the process progressed was a source of concern.
The decision to end operations of the Diamond estate followed a plan to consolidate estates along the East Coast of Demerara to correspond with the US$12.5M packaging plant at Enmore.
In the process, special arrangements were put in place for workers to be accommodated at the La Bonne Intention (LBI) estate.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, who spoke to the sugar workers before the payout process, extended a heartfelt thanks to the workers for their years of service at Diamond, but urged them to continue serving as labour is still in high demand.
“We are currently faced with what we consider a labour deficit. We still cannot get enough workers so… there is still a place for you in the sugar industry… so while we offer you severance, GuySuCo, the Guyana sugar industry, needs your skills, service and commitment. The choice is yours,” Minister Persaud said.
GuySuCo plans to meet the labourers to engage in dialogue on facilitating arrangements for recruitment in other areas in the industry. Sugar production this year has reached 106,286 tonnes, which Minister Persaud described as one of the better first crops for the last six years.
“This performance should inspire us… to ensure that at the end of 2011, we hit 300,000 tonnes or even more. It is not impossible; we can get it done if we have the total commitment of everyone,” Minister Persaud said.
GuySuCo’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Rajendra Singh; and General Secretary, Seepaul Narine, implored the workers to manage their finances wisely and put their monies to good use.
Lucien Pierre, one of the workers who led a delegation to the Head of State earlier this year to seek his advice on the issue, echoed similar sentiments about workers returning to the fields.
“I feel, even though today we are getting our severance cheques, we must continue to play some part or some role in the industry,” Pierre said.
Last month, President Bharrat Jagdeo met the workers at the Diamond Secondary School and announced that $300M will be given to GuySuCo by the Government to cover severance pay.