THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has expressed its dissatisfaction with the recommendation of the Ministry of Labour to reinstate Mr. Daniels Steven, who was suspended after an alternation with an estate manager. 

The suspension last month resulted in a massive strike in the sugar belt and subsequent agreement between GuySuCo and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU).
Six conditions were agreed to by the Union and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) yesterday which state that:
1. The strike by field and factory workers will end;
2. The Union will ensure full resumption of duties by field and factory workers from the day the strike ended;
3. There will be no victimization on either side because of strike actions;
4. All workers who were on strike will not have their ‘strike day’ counted as absent, but as days not available for work;
5. That the dismissal of the Skeldon factory employee, Mr. Steven Daniels, will be now treated as a suspension, without pay, until the end of the reconciliation talks; and
6. Within 24-hours, after resumption of duties, the aggrieved parties – including GAWU – will meet with the Chief Labour Officer, who will make a final decision on the matter.
Those talks were held with the Chief Labour Officer, acting as a mediator, who can make recommendations on the matter, but not a binding decision.
GuySuCo, in a statement yesterday, said, “GuySuCo has rejected the Chief Labour Officer’s (CLO) recommendation to reinstate the dismissed worker, Mr. Daniels Steven, who was summarily dismissed on September 20, 2014 for physically assaulting the Estate Manager of Skeldon Estate. The CLO’s recommendation was made in his capacity as conciliator after two meetings with the Corporation and the Union, the last being October 1, 2014.”
EVIDENCE AGAINST STEVEN

According to the Corporation, its rejection of the CLO’s recommendation is premised on fact that it has evidence that favours the estate manager.
“The CLO’s recommendation is premised on the availability of statements by workers and staffs who gave evidence that the Estate Manager was neither under the influence of alcohol nor was aggressive towards Stevens, and that on the contrary, it was Stevens who was aggressive towards the Manager, which resulted in him physically assaulting the Manager,” GuySuCo said.
As such the Corporation has requested the Ministry of Labour to move the matter forward to the next stage of the procedure, which is arbitration.
GuySuCo said, “The Corporation wishes to restate, as it did in previous statements, that the Estate Manager in his usual night visits to the factory and mill dock met a group of workers that included Daniels Steven who were malingering in the vicinity of the mill dock and cautioned them to report to their respective work stations.
“On being cautioned by the Manager, Steven became abusive and was calmly advised by the Manager to heed his advice and report to his work station. Steven subsequently retaliated and approached the Manager in a hostile manner, and in the process struck the Manager in his face.
“The incident was witnessed by several staffs and workers, all of whom have testified in written statements that the Estate Manager was neither intoxicated nor aggressive and abusive to Steven.”
GAWU’S TAKE

Meanwhile, GAWU President, Mr. Komal Chand, told the Guyana Chronicle that GuySuCo’s move was in line with the terms agreed.
“It is agreed by the Union and GuySuCo that should the matter remain unresolved, there will be a move to arbitration,” he said.
However, he noted that it is interesting that after two weeks since the last meeting, GuySuCo made the decision to go to arbitration.
“It was unexpected,” Chand said, but contends that GAWU will adhere to the terms of the initial agreement and work to have the matter resolved.
The GAWU President, in a prior comment, had explained that the strike stemmed from an alleged altercation between Estate Manager, Mr. Dave Kumar and Daniels, a worker at the Skeldon sugar estate.
He said the report he received is that on the day of the altercation, at around 11:30pm, the estate manager, who had allegedly been consuming alcohol, was on his way to the Dock Mill, where a cane harvest had been offloading. Before he reached there, he met several workers and reportedly asked them to move. The allegation is that all the workers did not remove immediately and the estate manger became incensed.
“The report we have is that the worker was verbally abused, he was cursed at, and there was a scuffle where the estate manger allegedly attempted to hit him,” Chand had said.
He added that the worker continued working, but was later informed that he was fired and escorted off the premises by the estate’s security personnel.
Consequently, workers moved to strike action.
A meeting between the Ministry of Labour, GuySuCo and GAWU is scheduled for Monday.

(By Vanessa Narine)