GAWU calling on Social Protection Ministry to resolve stalemate

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) is calling on the Social Protection Ministry to resolve the stalemate between the Union and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) over La Bonne Intention (LBI) workers being deployed.
GAWU stated that if the Corporation and the Union have reached an impasse in the discussion of the LBI workers being relocated to the Enmore Estate, then the Social Protection Ministry should intervene to resolve the issue.
Union General Secretary Seepaul Narine in a statement said that among the matters the Union wants to resolve is the one surrounding the Corporation’s decision to transfer the cane harvesters to Enmore Estate, adding that the Union’s delegation needs assurance that the workers would not be transferred.
“Notwithstanding that undertaking and to the Union’s surprise the Corporation on July 26, 2016, informed the Union that it has decided to transfer the LBI field workers. Narine noted that the Union’s delegation at that meeting did not consent to the transfer. Subsequently, he stated that there was another engagement between the Union’s delegation and the Corporation on August 3, 2016 and no agreement was reached.
He argued that it is therefore inconceivable for GuySuCo to say that the East Demerara Estate is one estate, so the disturbance allowance would not be applicable. “However, if it is that the Corporation and the Union have reached an impasse in the discussions, then the matter should have been referred to the Ministry of Social Protection for conciliation,” he posited.
He questioned the transfer of the LBI workers given that LBI cultivation is not closed.
“Indeed it should be borne in mind also that canecutters are piece-rated. At LBI whenever they are required to undertake – tasks other than their substantive tasks – their earnings are pegged at 00 per worker, which is higher than the 00 paid at Enmore Estate. There are
other dissimilar conditions of work between the two estates,” he said, pointing out that the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act (TESPA) prohibits the Corporation from transferring the workers concerned under less favourable conditions. “Furthermore, the transfer is not proper since the workers are not redundant in keeping with Section 12 of TESPA”.
He further stated that the Corporation insisting that it received no letter from the Union to discuss several issues which the Union saw fit to raise is erroneous.
“The Corporation’s representative is obviously unacquainted with the facts. We cannot believe at this time, the Corporation seeks to be purposely misleading. The fact is that there are over 12 letters to GuySuCo for which not even an acknowledgement was received,” Narine noted.
He stated that the Corporation’s actions strongly emphasise the Union’s view that GuySuCo is not seeking to encourage an atmosphere of dialogue and cooperation.
“The GAWU remains desirous of a fruitful working relationship premised on mutual respect in the interest of the industry and its thousands of workers,” he said, adding that “indeed GAWU and the thousands of sugar workers as stakeholders want to ensure workers’ jobs are secured. That is why the workers are opposed to the closure of Wales Estate and any other estate. It is GuySuCo over the past months especially since last October which is refusing to engage the Union on many major issues”.