By Rabindra Rooplall

THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is aiming to make Annual Production Incentive (API) payments during the first crop in 2016, as the Corporation will be receiving revenue from sugar sales during that period.

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and GuySuCo have so far refused to make any compromise on the matter. Earlier this month, the two parties met with the mediator, Chief Labour, Occupational Safety and Health Officer Charles Ogle, to discuss the API dispute. GuySuCo stuck to its offer of 85,000 tonnes sugar for a day’s pay, and GAWU held firm to its position that more must be given to its workers.

The union said it had “observed that this year (2015), for nearly three decades, will be the first time sugar workers would not have been able to obtain a wage increase, and obtaining a compensatory and acceptable API payment. Indeed, the workers would encounter a bleak and grim period during the end-of-year holidays, including the commencement of the New Year”, the union’s missive said.

The Chief Labour Officer informed the meeting that he would provide a brief to Ministers Volda Lawrence and Simona Broomes, who would then have the opportunity to advise on the way forward, including engaging the parties with respect to finding a settlement.

Meanwhile, GuySuCo has surpassed its production target for 2015 by over 300 tonnes, while three estates are still grinding; and so the corporation is likely to see a significant increase in sugar production. Those estates — Albion and Rose Hall in Berbice, and Enmore on the East Coast – ceased grinding on Monday.

GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Errol Hanoman, has attributed this production to the dedication and hard work of both the workforce and management. He is hoping that this sort of record-breaking performance is the beginning of the “improving trend of the corporation”. However, he emphasised that “it can only be maintained if the union, the workers and management work together”.