Jagdeo urges early severance payments for sugar workers

Ahead of upcoming court battle

…says no timeframe set for pay-out

Former sugar workers and millions of dollars of their severance payments currently being held up formed part of the recent discussions between Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and President David Granger.
At his weekly press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo revealed that he confronted the President on the status of payments for the unpaid former sugar workers. According to Jagdeo, he received assurances that the severance would be paid. Those assurances came, however, without any projected timeframe.
“I raised the question of the sugar workers and their struggle to get the remainder of their severance. And I said to the President, this is money that is due to them. They worked for this. This is not a hand-out that they should be struggling for or requesting or begging for. This is mandated by law. So I asked when they will receive their severance,” Jagdeo recalled.
“He said to me, they’ve taken a position to pay the severance, but I could not get in what time period they would pay the severance. He said they took a decision… we

would like to see the severance paid early to the workers.”
On the matter of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) as a company, the former President said this also formed a topic of conversation. According to Jagdeo, Granger assured him that GuySuCo falls under the Agriculture Ministry and not the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) or the Special Purpose Unit (SPU).
“And I said to him, but Mr President, you have by order transferred all the assets of the closed estates to NICIL from GuySuCo and you have also transferred 100 per cent of shares of GuySuCo to NICIL.”
“Further, NICIL has borrowed $17 billion that they already have in an account and they’re out in the market to borrow another $13-14 billion. So they have money they are borrowing on behalf of GuySuCo and you’re saying they have no responsibility, it’s the Ministry of Agriculture.”
Jagdeo recalled that NICIL had announced it had given $2 billion to GuySuCo, which left $15 billion. The former President therefore questioned what the remaining sum would be spent on.

Severance
In January, Government had announced that some sugar workers, owed $500,000 or less, would be paid in full by January month end. In June, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) took Government to court. This was done on behalf of workers from Skeldon, Rose Hall and the East Demerara sugar estates.
In the legal documents, it was outlined that the redundant workers were to receive their redundancy allowance/severance payment no later than December 29, 2017. The legal team, which was led by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, stated that the over 4000 workers were paid only a portion of their severance payments.
The lawyers highlighted that even while this was ongoing, GuySuCo transferred all of its assets for those three estates under the Finance Minister to NICIL as per notice published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) of Guyana on December 30, 2017.
Lawyers also observed that GuySuCo has been collateralised as security for a $30 billion loan that it has or is borrowing from commercial banks.
The attorneys are seeking an order from the court to direct the respondents – GuySuCo and NICIL, their officers, servants and agents – to “pay forthwith to the said 4280 employees of GuySuCo – and members of the Applicant, all severance or redundancy payments or allowances due, owing and payable under the provisions of TESPA.”
When the matter came up for hearing before High Court Judge Fidella Corbin-Lincoln, attorneys petitioned to have these arguments for the sugar workers dismissed. The matter is scheduled to continue on September 4.