HUNDREDS of field workers attached to the LBI and Enmore sugar estates — cane cutters; shovel men; weeders, mainly females; fertilizing hands; cane planters and others — downed tools on Friday, demanding that the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) meet with both workers and union representatives to iron out the workers’ grievances.These workers contend that they are being coerced to work at the Enmore estate for less remuneration. They are demanding to be allowed to work at the LBI estate as per their contractual arrangements.

The workers argue that the conditions at the Enmore estate are less favourable to them, and they are not prepared to settle for less.

Vishnu Lewis, a cane harvester at the LBI Estate, told the Guyana Chronicle he is not pleased with the mechanisms employed by GuySuCo to have workers relocated to the Enmore Estate.

“They have taken us to Enmore over the out-of-crop period, and the work that they giving us is only achieved at a maximum of $700-a-day work. They give us four days a week work, and 4 by 7 is only $2800; and the work at LBI, you does get $10,000 or $12,000 at LBI. We can’t maintain our families if we go over at LBI,” Lewis explained.

He told Guyana Chronicle that approximately 1800 workers are on strike, and will continue to protest what they deem to be unjust treatment being meted out to them. “Management is telling us clearly (that) if we don’t want to work we could go home. This is not ‘thing’ to tell workers. If you are not giving we favourable work and (enabling us to) earn a day pay, should we work? We can’t earn, we have families and children going high school, and for the past three weeks we are not earning a single dollar.”

The cane harvester noted that many of the benefits receivable from the sugar company while working at Enmore Estate have been withdrawn. “They tell us we are no longer going to get LBI pay; we are going to get Enmore pay. We are not Enmore workers, we are LBI workers. Our contracts state we are LBI workers. Now they want to take our contracts and restate it to Enmore,” said the angry worker, who maintained that he would not accept that.

Rampersaud Prashad, the Field Officer responsible for all workers on the East Demerara Estates, has said the downing of tools by the workers on the East Coast was necessary to demonstrate to GuySuCo that workers are against the treatment they are receiving.

“We had a protest this morning concerning the movement of workers from LBI to Enmore and Enmore to LBI, where we were getting a disturbance allowance to go to any other estate,” he said, noting that every estate has different practices.

And GAWU, at a press conference on Friday, has said the workers are being coerced to become members of the Enmore Estate workforce, and that the decision to so do is a “unilateral and high-handed decision.”

“The Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo), the workers insisted, must not demand they work under less favourable conditions as they would be required (to do) at Enmore Estate. A female worker, Cde. Sharon Smith, explained a few days ago that at LBI Estate a task work is priced at $2,875 and a similar task is priced at $2,675 at Enmore Estate. Moreover, we cannot be oblivious to the long travelling distance between the two (2) estates that this decision entails,” said GAWU.

The Union argues that with the 2,700 hectares of crop still to be cultivated, either the workers or their jobs are redundant. “On the other hand, the field workers of Enmore Estate are objecting to the manner (in which) their counterparts at LBI Estate are pushed over to their Estate. They also struck today to register their disagreement. They are seeking a meeting, through their shop stewards and the Union’s Field Officer, with the management of the estate to have some work issues addressed.”

According to GAWU, the matter could be resolved by virtue of meetings held between the Union and the sugar company. However, there have been no dialogues or meetings of the sides.

President of the Union, Komal Chand, told reporters that correspondence was sent to GuySuCo but the union has not even received an acknowledgement of the correspondence from the company.

“The negative culture now being pursued by the Corporation is demotivating to the workforce,” said Chand. He believes that “GuySuCo has created a situation of distrust… [and] it is most frightening and negative to the sugar industry.”

While he is hoping that good sense prevails on the issues, he is of the opinion that GuySuCo is unbothered by the striking workers. Chand said it is time that GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Errol Hanoman take seriously what he described as a “breakdown” in the relationship between workers and the company.

“We need to dialogue on these matters…we are faced with a wall,” he said, reflecting on the current projected figures for this year’s production. “Too much is at stake in the industry,” he said, while noting that “it is more than non-cooperation; it is a display of arrogance” by GuySuCo.

Calls to the GuySuCo CEO, Errol Hanoman; and to the Communications Officer Audreyanna Thomas on Friday proved futile.