CANE harvesters attached to the Providence and Rose Hall Estates downed tools on Wednesday and engaged in street protest over a proposed one percent wage increase which they have been offered by GuySuCo. 

The protesters, representing almost half of the field workers on to the two estates, marched from Providence, East Bank Berbice, chanting: “One percent can’t wuk.”
They journeyed to New Amsterdam where they staged a brief picketing exercise in front of the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) office, at Main and Charlotte Streets.
Police cordoned off the area and diverted the mid-morning traffic as the strikers demonstrated.
‘P’ Gang representative Carlton Austin told the Guyana Chronicle that they are dissatisfied with the one percent wage hike which had been offered them.
He noted statements made by the company that it is cash-strapped but asked how the top brass is receiving high salaries.
Austin said he is of the opinion that the demand for an 8 percent rise is reasonable, given the fact that, initially, they were pushing for 12 percent.

Cutting cost
“If you are cutting cost, you can’t start from the bottom and then increase at the top,” he posited.
There was also a call for the Guyana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) to, adequately, represent the cause of the cane harvesters.
GAWU Regional Supervisor in Berbice, Harvey Tambron, in an invited comment, explained that, management will not have union dues deducted from workers’ wages without proper authorisation.
Refusing to touch on the issue of salaries for GuySuCo’s top management, he said the union understands the difficulty workers are facing and it will continue to represent them.
“That is our legal obligation,” he acknowledged.
Tambron also reported that the union met with workers’ representatives on Tuesday and a decision was taken to allow the negotiations between GuySuCo’s management and union officials to continue.
“There is nothing wrong with organised protest or strikes; we will support the workers in strike action once the union can defend and justify the cause,” he assured.
However, Tambron said the recent action by the cane harvesters cannot be justified because representatives had agreed to wait on the outcome of the current negotiations, before anything is done.
He added: “No other gangs on any of the other estates are on strike for wage increases.”