– union urges deeper thinking on new management for Skeldon factory
GAWU Chief, Komal Chand
The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) reached agreement on Monday on the formula applicable to award Annual Production Incentive (API) for this year.
For production equivalent to 31,200 tonnes of sugar, a day’s pay will be awarded as API to qualified workers. Thus the corporation’s revised target of 282,712 tonnes enables workers to receive not less than 9.06 days’ pay. The year’s production, which stands at 146,712 tonnes of sugar as at Monday, already entitles workers to 4.7 days’ pay.
According to a GAWU release, it is remarkable that the corporation, unlike in recent years, exercised wisdom to settle with the union wage adjustment and API award, and to do so months prior to the conclusion of the second crop in the year.
“In recent years, there was much controversy and confrontation between the parties on the resolution of these issues, not forgetting last year (2010) the corporation’s threat to hijack the Recognition Agreement subsisting since 1976 between the union and the corporation.
“Certainly, the industry’s workforce, against the backdrop of the two agreements, (is) now much energized, as they, among other things, are diligently pursuing the reaping of the crop’s canes across the industry,” GAWU declared.
Next Thursday, September 15, at 10:30h, the union and the corporation are to append the API agreement at the corporation’s training centre at LBI estate.
Skeldon management
Meanwhile, GAWU said on September 3 that Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud’s revelation that the corporation was looking to engage either a Chinese or Indian company to manage the operations of Skeldon estate needs to be thought through.
GAWU said the strategic thinking behind the Skeldon Sugar Modernisation Project (SSMP) was to buttress the industry following the effects of the reform of the European Union’s sugar regime, which occurred a few years ago.
The project was designed to include a state-of-the-art factory capable of producing 110,000 tonnes of sugar per annum. The factory, a turnkey project constructed by China National Technical Import & Export Corporation (CNTIC), was already far behind schedule when it began to experience debilitating problems, which have persisted.
The factory is effectively in the hands of the sugar corporation, having been taken over by GuySuCo in November last year.
According to GAWU, it is widely known that the factory is still beset by major defects which continue to inhibit its maximum and efficient performance.
GAWU said the corporation needs to take corrective measures at the technical level, lest the factory’s problems continue to bedevil the whole industry.
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