The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) has made a 15 per cent proposal for wage increases for its workers this year, but the Guyana Sugar Corporation has stated it cannot meet the union’s demands, and has countered with a five per cent offer.
The parties have already met twice to negotiate increases; and they will meet again on July6, Guyana Times International understands.
GAWU asked for the same percentage of increase last year, but a bitter wage dispute erupted, with the sugar company threatening to derecognise the union.
GuySuCo, highly indebted to foreign and local banks, has blamed its failure to produce the targeted amount of 269,000 tonnes of sugar on poor weather and repeated strikes. Due to the corporation’s failure to achieve trageted production, it has been unable to pay a wage increase or annual production incentive (API) for this year.
At Enmore Martyr’s Day observances on June 16, GAWU President Komal Chand lamented the non-implementation of a five per cent raise in the rate of pay of sugar workers from January 01, 2011. Chand said workers in the public and private sectors got new rates of pay this year based on their increases in pay last year.
While sugar workers got a five per cent increase in pay, they are still paid at their 2009 rates of pay. “It is most discriminatory to treat the nation’s sugar workers so disrespectfully. Sugar workers are becoming incensed at the procrastination. They would not like to see the delay last beyond June 30, 2011,” the trade union leader had said.
Chand further urged that the issue of the five per cent additional rate of pay be urgently addressed.
For 2010, there were approximately 249 strikes at GuySuCo estates. Additionally, work days were lost when the sugar company closed the autumn crop early due to inclement weather. More than 20,000 families depend on the sugar industry for a livelihood.
Despite major investments in the sugar industry, with the introduction of the Skeldon Sugar Plant, the Enmore Gold packaging plant, and modifications to most of the other estates, the industry continues to struggle to earn break even profit.
GuySuCo is still positive about the turnaround of the industry, which suffered a major blow when the European Union’s 36 per cent price cut took effect in 2010. Guyana currently loses close to Gy$10 billion a year in the sugar industry.
The company has set itself an ambitious target of 300,000 tonnes of sugar for 2011.
