CLOSE to a year since the death of veteran Trade Unionist and former President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), Komal Chand, the union’s General Council has elected Seepaul Narine to serve in the esteemed position.
According to a press statement from GAWU, Narine was elected from among the union’s bargaining unit and its leadership during a meeting held on Friday.
Based on previous reports, GAWU, which was founded in 1946, is the largest trade union in Guyana, boasting a membership of over 21,000 persons.
Since the passing of Chand, the union has been without a President, a situation which was acknowledged by GAWU’s General Council during Friday’s meeting.
Having considered the vacancy, and in keeping with the union’s Constitution, the Council elected Narine as President; Aslim Singh as General Secretary; and Porandatt Narine as Assistant General Secretary/Treasurer.

“The Council felt that the new officers have been diligent in their duties, and have led the union properly over the last months. They, therefore, were unanimous in their support of the new officers,” GAWU said in its press statement.
Members of the Council, in expressing congratulations, pledged to work alongside the new officers to further strengthen GAWU, and help it grow from strength to strength. At the meeting, several matters of concern were discussed, and guidance on the way forward was offered. The new General Secretary of GAWU presented the report of the General Council, which reviewed the work of the union since the last meeting in December 2020.
The new dispensation is coming at a time when one of the industries which is the largest represented by the union, sugar, is being revamped.
“GuySuCo is on a change plan; we have refashioned the way we are doing things. We have re-engineered the way we are thinking at GuySuCo; the whole vision at GuySuCo right now is to move up the value chain as fast as we can within the constraints of finances, and, in addition to that, we are opening three estates.

So, it’s going up, and it’s going broader,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Sasenarine Singh said in a previous report. GuySuCo has since restarted the production of packaged sugar, and will be focusing heavily on this aspect of production, instead of the traditional bulk production.
“GuySuCo started production of packaged sugar; we are moving away from the dump market to go into packaged sugar, and this is the reality. We get double the value per tonne when we sell packet sugar, versus what we dump on the world market,” Singh said. Considering the substantial benefits of value-added production, the CEO believes it is a “no-brainer” situation when assessing which segments of the market to supply with Guyana’s sugar. Already, the government has injected close to $9 billion into the sugar corporation, with the aim of rekindling the ancient industry which has been ailing for years. Chand, prior to his death in April 2020, not only championed the rights of sugar workers, but also advocated for the prudent management of the industry’s resources. He was remembered by many as someone who always embraced and espoused policies and initiatives aimed at improving the standard of living and well-being of the ordinary people.