– Luncheon
GOVERNMENT has expressed concerns over the ongoing industrial action by sugar workers, taking into consideration the adverse effect on the industry, Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon said yesterday. Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing in Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown, he said: “The spectacle created is a bit of insurrection where the workers found it necessary to resort to unjustified interventions.”
Luncheon referred to the strike at Blairmont, West Bank Berbice, where the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) had taken a decision to cut the extras paid to the workers. That was undertaken due to the fact that the Corporation had put mechanisms in place to minimise workers having to encounter obstacles in the fields during the cutting process, which led to them being paid extra for the additional work.
However, the Corporation, having taken its financial woes into consideration, decided that minimising the additional payment would cut costs and operate more efficiently, he explained.
Luncheon said that did not go down well with the workers who, subsequently, resorted to industrial action for the non-payment of the extra money.
Cabinet also noted the impact the industrial action would have with regard to the Corporation meeting its production target and  its financial obligations.
Luncheon noted that the unrest would make GuySuCo’s situation more precarious and workers should exercise some level of understanding.
According to him, government has been emphasising the impact the industrial unrest would have on the Corporation and, by extension, the economy, given the importance of the industry.
He blamed some misguided elements who are behind the industrial action, creating a spectacle for unnecessary interventions.
“There is certain reliance that local communities have on the industry,” he pointed out, adding that an upturn in the industry would have an unimaginable impact on government and the communities.

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He said there are some persons who would like to see the industry fail, as is seen through their actions.
Cabinet had expressed concern with regard to the Parliamentary Opposition parties’ involvement in the industrial action, which, according to Luncheon, have encouraged the workers in “unjustified and ill advised pursuits.”
Four days after the onset of the strike at Blairmont Estate, a team from the Alliance For Change (AFC), including Khemraj Ramjattan, Moses Nagamootoo, Nigel Hughes, Gerhard Ramsaroop, along with former University of Guyana (UG) lecturer Freddie Kissoon, visited the location and interacted with the workers.
Cane harvesters at La Bonne Intention (LBI) and Enmore estates, both on the East Coast of Demerara, went on strike Monday after GuySuCo required them to meet a quota before they were paid.
This latest action follows days after Berbice strikers agreed to resume work from their stoppage over working conditions and payment of their incentives.
In light of this, the HPS said Cabinet would be enhancing engagements with stakeholders in the sugar industry, in anticipation and in support of a return to normalcy within.
Luncheon emphasised the need for mature minds to address sugar woes in Guyana.