GuySuCo, GAWU exchange charges as strikes continue
THE Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has expressed dissatisfaction with the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) statement that it is unable to set an early date for the ‘Holiday with Pay’ (HWP) disbursement. However, GuySuCo Deputy Chief Executive Officer Raj Singh responded that the employer stands firm on its word and payments will be disbursed once the cash flow situation improves.
“We are making efforts to try and accumulate the money as quickly as possible and, once we would have acquired this from our collection, the payment will be made,” he assured.
GAWU has accused GuySuCo of being negligent about the payments during the off season, as it is now, when the industry is not reaping canes and workers’ solidarity to defend any right is not at its best and thus the Corporation’s present attitude.
GAWU, in a statement yesterday, said it believes that thousands of factory and field employees continue to be deprived of their legal HWP, due and payable since May 25, adding that GuySuCo remains “mum and non-communicative”.
According to GAWU, sugar workers at Uitvlugt, Wales and Enmore estates have been engaging in sporadic strikes and work stoppages over the past days.
This action is in light of the deafening silence by the major employer of Guyanese workers and, on the other estates; workers are being persuaded that protests across the industry are now the necessary answer to force the Corporation to pronounce on a date for the payment.
GAWU said it is perplexed that the Corporation seems to have no respect for its dependable workforce, at least by identifying an early date for the payment.
The union said it will continue to do everything possible to press the Corporation towards having the issue settled within the next few days.

NO POSITION
Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle, earlier this week, Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy explained that, while GuySuCo was in no position to make the payout, it is aware of workers’ entitlement.
“They have earned it, they should be paid. My position is they should be paid as early as possible. However, the Corporation is in no position to do so,”
he agreed.
Ramsammy had said that GuySuCo has some critical financial problems and closing the 2012 first crop prematurely would basically mean that the Corporation has lost a lot during production and that means a few billion dollars it had planned on receiving would be affected.
On May 18, the Corporation was compelled to inform the workers, through GAWU, that it would be unable to honour, in a timely manner, the HWP commitment to workers on those estates that have brought their crop to a premature end due to the inclement weather.
With the exception of Skeldon and Blairmont estates, all others closed their crop on May 11.
The Corporation also advised GAWU, on May 18, that, once the cash flow situation improves, the payout would be made.
Workers at Enmore Estate, on Tuesday, began a three-day strike to protest against the non-payment of the HWP and job evaluation by GuySuCo.
A GuySuCo statement said 146 strikes by cane harvesters, affecting 18,530 man days were experienced in the first crop this year and, of that number, 11,700 man days were lost at Blairmont Estate.

DAYS LOST
The statement lamented: “Had the amount of man days lost on strikes been at work supplying canes to the semi-mechanical harvesters (Bell Loaders), an additional 7,500 tonnes sugar could have been produced, equivalent to $1,200M in revenue.”
It added that the average turnout of harvesters for the 2012 first crop was 52 percent and this low level contributed to extremely low grinding hours per week in the factories. Optimally, a factory is expected to grind not less than 130 hours per week for better recoveries and factory time efficiency.
Unfortunately, only Rose Hall Estate has been able to grind an average of 100 hours per week. The other estates recorded between 75 and below 100 hours per week, GuySuCo disclosed.
It said, during the inclement weather, sogginess of the soil prevents the Bell Loaders from operating, thus harvesters had to be assigned to manually cut and load the canes, rather than stacking canes for the mechanical harvesters. During this period, harvesters were reluctant to cut and load, preferring to return home, since they became heavily dependent on machinery. Accordingly, burnt canes were left for days in the fields, deteriorating.
Currently, 214,100 tonnes of cane remain to be harvested, which now have to be harvested in the second crop but would not yield the same amount of sugar, as the canes would be much older. If all the canes were harvested, this crop production would have been closer to the projected target and adequate revenue would have been available to pay the workers on time, GuySuCo stated.
Minister Ramsammy said the second crop would see works commencing early July, as a result of the weather conditions.
“We decided that we would take our chances, meaning end the first crop early and start the second crop early. So, instead of starting the first crop in the first half, we end at the beginning of May. So, instead of planting the second crop at the end of July/early August, we would start early July,” he explained.
Ramsammy said he hopes weather conditions in July would be more amenable for the sugar industry than what obtained in May.
GuySuCo has urged GAWU and the workers to work together with it to increase turnout and decrease man days lost due to strikes, so that the current situation does not repeat itself.