FORMER Chief Labour Officer, Mr Mohammed Akeel, will make public today his report on arbitration proceedings between the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU).His report follows the establishment of an arbitration tribunal to address the dismissal of Skeldon Sugar Estate worker Daniel Stephens; that tribunal ended its sittings on November 26 after several meetings.

Under the chairmanship of Labour Minister, Dr. Nanda Gopaul, a Memorandum of Agreement between GuySuCo and GAWU was inked at a conciliatory meeting between the two bodies, which saw the following Terms of Reference (TOR) forming the basis for the work of the tribunal.
The document, which the Guyana Chronicle has seen, was signed on behalf of GuySuCo, by Messrs Jairam Pitam, Human Services Director; Deodat James Sukhu, Chief Industrial Relations Manager; and Tulsiram Seulall, Industrial Relations Officer.
Signing on GAWU’s behalf were Messrs Komal Chand, President; Seepaul Narine, General Secretary; and M. McBean, Shop Steward. The document was countersigned by current Chief Labour Officer (CLO), Mr. Charles Ogle. As part of the TOR, it was suggested that Stephens’ dismissal be reduced to a suspension.
Stephen’s dismissal resulted in a massive strike in the sugar belt in late September, and subsequent agreement between GuySuCo and GAWU to engage the CLO.
The CLO’s recommendation, made on October 1, 2014 after two meetings, was to reinstate Stephens, but was however rejected by GuySuCo.

GAWU’S ARGUMENT
GAWU’s President, in an earlier comment, had explained that the strike stemmed from an alleged altercation between Estate Manager, Mr. Dave Kumar and Stephens.
He said the report he received was that on the day in question, at around 11:30pm, the Estate Manager, who had allegedly been drinking, 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 at the time said that the worker continued working, but was later informed that he was being fired, and was escorted off the premises by the Estate’s security personnel.
Consequently, workers moved to strike action, and GAWU contends that the disciplinary code of action was not adhered to.

GUYSUCO’S COUNTER
GuySuCo, in an earlier statement, presented a different version of the incident. “The type of behaviour that was displayed by Mr. Stephens is recognised by the Corporation as one that constitutes gross misconduct, and such behaviour is treated with summary dismissal. As a consequence, Stephens was summarily dismissed,” GuySuCo said, adding:
“…the Corporation wishes to restate, as it did in a previous statement, that the Estate Manager, in his usual night visits to the factory and mill dock, met a group of workers that included Mr. Stephens 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, Mr. Stephens became abusive, and was calmly advised by the Manager to heed his advice and report to his work station. Mr. Stephens subsequently retaliated and approached the Estate Manager in a hostile manner, and in the process struck the Manager in his face. The incident was witnessed by the Agriculture Manager and a Supernumerary Constable, all of whom testified that the Estate Manager was not intoxicated, nor was he aggressive and abusive to Mr. Stephens.”
The decision, all arguments considered, will be handed down during an open forum at GAWU’s Kingston office.