Rose Hall Estate factory workers protest dismissal of colleagues

– accuse new Production Manager of not paying workers on previous occasions

Factory workers attached to the Rose Hall Sugar Estate have down their tools on Thursday evening in protest over the dismissal of two of their colleagues.
The Rose Hall Estate Production Manager along with the head of the laboratory were sent home and a new Production Manager was appointed, prompting the workers to walk off the job in protest.

The factory workers walked off the job leaving several tons of wood burning. In addition, more than 600 punts of cane remain on the ground losing its sugar content.
The workers who are being backed by their union, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) down tools from Thursday evening bringing a halt to grinding operations.
The two dismissed workers were represented by the National Association of Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE). Reports are that the workers were fired following reports of irregularities with the declared production figures.
GAWU workers are also protesting the appointment of a new Production Manager. That person, they say was the Production Manager in 2017 when the estate was closed.

“Dem bring a Production Manager from Uitvlugt, he went here in 2017, and say that he come to close the estate. That is one reason; the second is that he tamper with the scale and three, he rob the workers a day pay. So, we don’t want him here,” GAWU representative Sewchan Manga stated.
Asked what proof the workers had that the scale that weighs the cane was tampered with, Manga said it was a fellow worker who was asked to do it. “The man who he tells to tamper the scale come back and tell we.” he related.
During Friday’s strike action, management met with the workers and pleaded with them to return to work. However, the workers maintained that they were only going to return to work if the new Production Manager was removed from the estate.
The workers argued that more than 600 punts can’t wait to be processed which would see the estate losing millions if it is not taken into the factory while each worker would just lose a few days’ pay. They were informed that the decision could not be made at the level of the Rose Hall Estate Management.
Another GAWU factory workers representative Jairaj Ramoutar said the new factory manager was very unpopular when he functioned at that estate in 2017.
“He tell a man name Bess to stick the scale and Bess say that he can’t do that… They knock off that man and they try the case at Blairmont and then bring him back to still be the Production manager. We also want to know the reason that they knocked off the two men yesterday.”
Officials from NAACIE say they could not provide any information about the dismissal of the two employees.
Meanwhile, management of the Rose Hall Estate says arrangements will be made to take the cut cane to Albion Estate.