-GuySuCo reneged on earlier assurances – GAWU

Seventy-five sugar workers attached to the Enmore and La Bonne Intention sugar estates, are contemplating their next move after being left without canes to plant at the two East Demerara Estates of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuco).

General Secretary of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Seepaul Narine  told the media on Tuesday during a press briefing at the union’s High Street office that the sugar cane planters were told by the management of the corporation that planting was suspended at the estates. Instead only cane-cutting jobs were available and the men have been out of work for almost a month.

In addition, Narine said the “cane-tops”, which are used for replanting, were reaped and taken to the factory for grinding in mid-February, a move which he noted may be a signal that the Enmore estate will be closed soon.

According to GAWU, on March 24, a delegation from the union met with members of the Corporation’s Industrial Relations Department and the Estate Management. The body said GuySuCo’s assurance that the planters would be offered alternative work, such as engagement in the factory, rat baiting, infield weeding, and canal cleaning was not realized.

When the men assumed work on March 27, 2017, the workers were advised by the management of the Estate that only cane-cutting tasks would be provided to them. GAWU said this was a violation of an agreement in a matter of days since the new task, which the men were unfamiliar with, were forced –upon them.

The workers, several of whom flanked Narine and other officials of GAWU on Tuesday, called on Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder to intervene in the matter. They also called on GuySuCo to give them the required payment for the days they were denied work opportunities