EMPLOYEES of Demerara Distillers Limited this year received wage and salary increases of 5-7 per cent.
In a press release issued after joint negotiations between the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), and the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU) and Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), workers in the respective union bargaining units are benefitting from improved pay and other conditions of work.
The increases are based on evaluation of employees’ performance by the company.

The three unions jointly engaged the company in several rounds of negotiations and through those discussions, a number of multi-year agreements were agreed.

The agreements provide a mechanism whereby dissatisfied workers could approach the union and for another evaluation to be conducted to determine their performance and thus, pay hikes. Apart from pay hikes, the unions and the company agreed on improved rates for meals allowance, overtime rates, premium rates and leave-passage assistance.

The unions and the company commenced discussions earlier this year, but these were thwarted by the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. While face-to-face engagements were hamstrung, the discussions continued and led to the agreements. According to the release, the workers are most pleased with the agreements and look forward to receiving their retroactive payments. The GAWU, for its part, is also pleased that an agreement could be reached and looks forward to engagements a bit later with the company as discussions begin to focus on future agreements.

The GAWU as a responsible union continues to stand by and with its members in this difficult time. It continues to engage employers regarding their employees’ health and well-being at the workplace, while ensuring that adequate and appropriate protection is provided. We are hopeful in the coming weeks of engaging other employers regarding improvements in conditions of work.