Govt’s assistance to sugar workers corrects ‘injustice’ faced under APNU/AFC – GAWU

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) has lauded Government’s decision to distribute a one-off payout to sugar workers who were sacked under the APNU/AFC administration.
This week, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo announced that the Government would give a one-off payout of $250,000 to each sugar worker who was made jobless following the downsizing of the sugar industry. The money allocated for this initiative is pegged at $1.8 billon.
The closure of the Wales Estate in 2016, and Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates in 2017 by the then APNU/AFC Government had seen over 7,000 workers being placed on the breadline. They will now benefit from this grant. In a statement on Tuesday, GAWU shared that this support is essential in correcting the indignation faced by these workers.

“Indeed, given the hardships that have beset the thousands of workers since they were heartlessly thrown on the breadline, the support by the Government is welcomed and seeks to correct the injustice and indignation the workers and their families confronted following the callous minimization of the sugar industry.”
It went on to say that Government must have taken account of the socio-economic tribulations encountered after the estates’ closure. A study by the International Labour Organization on the impact of estate closure had highlighted the magnitude in which persons were financially affected.
“That study confirmed that the workers and their families’ lives and well-being were significantly set back, and indeed some may never be able to make up the ground that they lost. As GAWU said then, and reiterates again, the decision to shutter estates has no sincere economic or social rationale. We contend that it was an undisguised attempt to punish sugar workers and the sugar industry.
“GAWU must point out, too, that while heartened about the support to the severed workers, it cannot ignore the plight of those sugar workers who remained on the job under the APNU/AFC Government. It is now documented history of the decline in standard-of-living that sugar workers faced at the hands of the Coalition. Successive years of no pay increase, the arbitrary withdrawal of benefits, and a seeming policy to punish the industry exacted a significant toll on the workers. We believe they, too, are equally as deserving, and we urge the Government to consider extending its support to all sugar workers. We believe it will help to alleviate the many burdens the workers had to contend with during the term of the Coalition in office.”

The ILO had launched its findings in June, giving an in-depth analysis of the challenges faced by sugar workers and thousands more in the secondary network.
A section of the report states, “At the household level, there could have been compensating increases in economic activities outside of the sugar industry, and there could have been an increase in the number of other persons within the household who engaged in income-earning activities after the closures. The focus group data, however, confirmed that weekly household incomes had also fallen dramatically by 64 per cent, from an average of $32,238 to $18,450 after the closures.”
Workers affected by the closures had more leisure time, resulting in the “prevalence of excessive alcohol consumption in rural communities and in the sugar belt”. Suicide and crime rates also took a leap.
“An increase in crime is not unrelated to an increase in substance abuse itself, but beyond that, many of the factors that lead to an increase in substance abuse also led to an increase in crime. This includes the loss of income, unemployment, and the despair and the seeming hopelessness that arose in the households and communities after the closures. These things undermine the very social capital from which workers, their families, and communities could have benefited as they learnt to deal with the closure of estates in a manner that would sustain their livelihoods.”
In addition to the grant, the Vice President has also announced that 10,000 jobs are expected to be created under the Emergency Employment Programme (EEP).
He noted that despite injecting $14 billion into the industry since returning to Government in August last year, the deterioration of the industry caused by the previous Government has resulted in the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) spending more that the revenue it is currently receiving. (G12)