THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) said approximately 75% of the 1,090 employees within the bargaining unit of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) took strike action since Thursday of last week, but there were minimum disruptions of operations on all estates. Albion and Rose Hall achieved their full weekly target for last week, while Blairmont achieved 93%; as such workers on this estate will be entitled to a prorated bonus for the week. Except for Rose Hall and Blairmont Estate, the others have resumed normal duties.
There was no official notification from the Union on Wednesday that the employees will be proceeding on strike on Thursday. When contacted on Wednesday about the rumour of a strike on Thursday, NAACIE’s General Secretary, Kenneth Joseph, could only say, “It appears so.”
A release from GUYSUCO said the Corporation and NAACIE last met on Wednesday (15/07/12) for the fourth time in the last month since the union raised its demand for an additional increase in pay. At this meeting, the Corporation indicated that it could “ill afford” an additional increase in pay when only on July 8, 2011 both parties signed an agreement that makes provision for an average increase in pay to those employees within the union’s bargaining unit of 35%, which cost $225M or an average increase per employee of $17,000 per month.
“Prior to this agreement, between August 2009, and January 2010, both parties jointly conducted a job evaluation and compensation survey exercise, and after several rounds of negotiation finally reached an agreement to have an implementation of the increase in pay, based on the job evaluation and compensation survey and award of a service pay of 2% for each year’s service to a maximum of 10 years, with effect from July 1, 2011,” the Corporation contended.
GUYSUCO said in their demand at this time, which is based on a new range of pay scales and the sustenance of the existing relativity between current pay and pay scales, the union’s request is computed to be an additional 32% increase in pay that’s estimated to cost $204M or an average additional increase per employee of $16,000. These increases are based on basic rates of pay, and exclude income from overtime, which in some categories could be between approximately 120% and 200% more on basic pay.
According to the release, this strike by the union took the Corporation by surprise as the matter was still being negotiated bilaterally; and during the course of the meeting on Wednesday the union had not even hinted at the possibility of a strike.
The Corporation said it is therefore urging all employees who are on strike to resume normal duties to allow the negotiation process to continue.