Sugar workers vent frustration over non-payment of salaries – GAWU

…say it’s ‘old wine in new bottle’

In light of the revelation that Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) does not have the finances to meet the obligation of sugar workers monthly salaries for July, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) stated that this situation would affect hundreds of persons.

The sugar company has been awaiting a disbursement of $750 million from the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) to make these payments.
However, GAWU General Secretary Seepaul Narine, during a telephone interview, told Guyana Times on Thursday that GuySuCo has failed to inform the union that workers were not paid, or that they were unable to meet the deadline.
He further noted that they were having difficulties in contacting an official from GuySuCo.
The official contended that while $250 million was transferred to GuySuCo earlier this month, they have been waiting on the other chunk which would place them in a position to pay sugar workers.
“They didn’t inform us by letter, which they normally do. We learnt of this situation in the media, and we’re trying to get in touch with them, but we can’t find anybody. This is a situation that since last month, they’ve been saying that they don’t have money. The Government transferred 200 million and they were supposed to get another 750 million,” Narine insisted.
In fact, promises were made by caretaker President David Granger more than one year ago to have this money transferred, but there is still a conflict between NICIL and GuySuCo. It is a situation which Narine referred to as ‘old wine in new bottle’.
The GAWU General Secretary added, “The fact that GuySuCo is saying that they don’t have money to pay salaries is saying that the money was not transferred. It appears as if it’s old wine in new bottle. These people have no vision in GuySuCo.”
The Union official further stated that on the economic side of the situation, sugar workers depend on their wages to provide for their families, and due to the meagre five per cent increase in five years, it is even more important.
“It’s frustrating because work opportunity had been reduced and it is currently out of crop. People depend on their wages from payday to payday because they haven’t had any increases for five years, and this year they had the five percent. They still have the retroactive outstanding as well. The point is, people were not able to earn and save over the period, and it’s already difficult; now it’s going to be devastating.”
Just last month, thousands of employees across the sugar belt were told by their union representatives that the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) is without funds to make good on payment of wages and salaries for June.
GAWU, in a public statement on Thursday, warned that the situation was compounded by the fact that the corporation ceased production and that sales from sugar and molasses came to an end. However, the $250 million bailout did suffice to keep operations going.
GAWU had reiterated that with a short time remaining before the second crop commences, the industry requires about $1 billion to meet wages and salaries’ expenditures, while additional monies are required to meet other operational expenses.
GuySuCo’s Board Chairman John Dow had relayed the company’s woes to caretaker President David Granger via a letter in May. He indicated that the Corporation had received only just about $9.7 billion of the promised $30 billion that was secured for the industry by the Government-run NICIL-Special Purpose Unit (SPU).
The letter also outlined that GuySuCo did not have the necessary cash to meet basic expenditure such as salaries, maintenance, and bare essentials. It further revealed that it was also $2.1 billion in debt without any sign of funding.
Compounding the situation, according to Dow, was the backlog of some $21 billion owed to GuySuCo’s creditors.