Guyana’s sugar workers vow to up fight for severance pay in 2018

With the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) having denied its efforts to have the local Court of Appeal “urgently” adjudicate its application to prevent the closure of the East Demerara and Rose Hall sugar estates, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) will be moving to the streets in the coming year to ensure that displaced workers are adequately compensated.
This was revealed by President of GAWU; Komal Chand who told Guyana Times International on Wednesday that the Finance Minister should announce a substantial budgetary allocation to pay workers their severance. He pointed out that in the meantime, the displaced employees will turn out in large numbers to protest the non-payment of severance in early January.
“We have to ascertain for certain that there will be a budgetary commitment to pay the workers,” the long-time GAWU head stressed.

The two Unions – GAWU and NAACIE (National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees) had appealed Chief Justice (ag) Roxanne George’s November 10, 2017 denial of their application to quash the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and Cabinet’s decision to close the East Demerara and Rose Hall estates.
They contended that the closure decisions were improper and there were insufficient consultations among the Government and GuySuCo, and the GAWU and NAACIE. Now that the CCJ has denied the Union’s request to the matter to be called up before December 31, Chand revealed that GAWU will petition the local courts to ensure that workers receive adequate compensation for their loss of employment and lack of benefits.
“We were trying to speed them up and have a decision before the 31st but that unfortunately didn’t happen so we have to wait until the court hearing. The appeal is not only for them to hold hands on the closure but to compensate the workers…many of them will not be able to sustain a proper livelihood during the rest of their working life,” he observed.
Meanwhile, sugar workers formerly attached to the Wales Sugar Estate related also on Wednesday that they have had enough of waiting on the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to pay their severance. They highlighted the many far-reaching challenges of not having consistent employment over the past 12 months.
Wales ended operations on December 31, 2016, and many workers since then are still to be paid severance after refusing to take up employment at Uitvlugt Estate, some 22 miles from the West Bank Demerara estate. Those workers were affected and thousands more family members and the surrounding villages also faced the impact of the closure. Earlier this month, the retrenchment of nearly 4000 workers attached to Rose Hall, East Demerara and Skeldon Estates was revealed and those employees have expressed fear of facing a similar fate to their former colleagues at Wales who are still awaiting their outstanding packages.
Many civil society bodies and other interest groups have been urging the coalition Government to re-think the closure of estates and to implement plans that will tackle the welfare of workers. In its end of year statement, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) highlighted that come 2018, it will in fact be 5000 sugar workers who will be left unemployed if Wales is factored into the current numbers. The body is of the view that this action will have “serious repercussions” for the New Year.
“The Commission stands by its proposal which was previously submitted asking that Government reverse these decisions and rethink a plausible solution that would alleviate the dire economic and social consequences of layoffs and hardships,” the PSC noted on Wednesday.
It was in August that the PSC had proposed for Government to enter into public-private partnerships to invest in and manage selected estates. However, in the coming days, estates at Rose Hall, and Enmore would cease operations, while Skeldon is slated to be privatised. Meanwhile, only three would be kept in operation – at Albion in East Berbice, Blairmont in West Berbice, and Uitvlugt on the West Coast of Demerara. (Shemuel Fanfair)