A SMALL section of the sugar workforce represented by the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) continued their strike up to Friday last over claims for payment which the Guyana Sugar Corporation (UYSCO) deems workers are not entitled to.Some 137 workers from a bargaining unit of 1,000 went on strike on Wednesday with the majority of 39 workers from Blairmont. However, information from GUYSUCO revealed that except for Blairmont where the preparations of payroll may be affected, the operations on the other estates, including factory operations, are unaffected.
In the meantime, the corporation is urging the striking workers, and NAACIE to allow better sense to prevail so that every opportunity could be taken to assist in realising its production target for this crop. And the Corporation remains very optimistic that with the good prevailing weather and labour turnout, coupled with excellent cane quality and yield, the target for this crop could be surpassed.
NACCIE claims that their members, working in the categories that are represented by the Union proceeded on Wednesday to take industrial action in keeping with an ultimatum sent by the Union to GuySuCo informing them of their intention to do whatever it takes to cause the corporation to pay salaries to their members in keeping with the Norman McLean Arbitration award and Collective Labour Agreement dated July 8, 2011.

They expressed disappointment over their category of workers in GuySuCo not being paid according to agreements while the Union has done all they think was in the interest of the production of sugar, and in the interest of Guyana as a whole.

“After long and consistent struggle with many annual impositions of wages and after many considerations our members were successful in causing an agreement which included the price for the job. Because of bunching of salaries caused by that agreement, another agreement was reached between the (parties) GuySuCo and NAACIE, causing workers with up to 10 years’ service to receive 2% per year added to the price for jobs for each year of service as their personal salaries. The years of service agreement was never a contentious issue with the Union and the Corporation,” they explained.

NAACIE also said that the corporation is still resisting the proper implementation of the Tribunal Award along with the year of service agreement between the parties even after being advised to. “We will insist that our members be paid according to fairness and agreement and will represent this matter at all levels,” they stressed.

However, GUYSUCO in their response stated that at the genesis of the workers’ claim this time is a misinterpretation of the Norman Mc Lean Arbitration Award, which was made in April last year while adding that only recently, during the current crop, a section of the NAACIE workers at Blairmont took a two-day industrial action on reasons similar to that of Wednesday, and the workers resumed on their own accord without the corporation conceding to their claim.
This newspaper made telephone contact with the union’s General Secretary to have a confirmation from him on the workers’ intimation that they would be proceeding on strike. However, the union’s head refused to confirm his union’s call for any strike, which therefore rendered the strike action being unofficial, and a clear violation of the extant grievance procedure.
GUYSUCO explained that the tribunal made its award, after presentations by the Union and the corporation in April 2013. The award, which was within the terms of reference, corrected the anomalies that were presented by the Union. Subsequent to the award the Union in its letter dated July 16, 2013 sought further adjustment to the award, which the tribunal in its letter dated October 15, 2013 stated that “the Union is seeking to take us outside of our Terms of Reference and whatever is done now would be ultra vires to those Terms.”
They further added that the Corporation during several meetings advised the Union that it could not acquiesce to their request for adjustments to pay the workers more than what was awarded by the tribunal. Despite these meetings with the Corporation and a meeting with the members of the tribunal on October 18, 2013, the Union persisted in its demand.
Meanwhile, the $6B budgeted to revive GUYSUCO through mechanization; improvement of cane production; factory upgrades and the purchasing of equipment; and improving field infrastructure was approved in the National Assembly last Wednesday evening.
By Ravin Singh