Under no circumstances should this Skeldon worker be reinstated

Dear Editor,

I refer to the Kaieteur News of 18th October 2014.

I specifically point to a story captioned `Sugar industry relations at loggerheads over slapping incident’.

First of all I want everyone to know that I completely support the good work that the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News are doing in this country and I feel vindicated that the population is now convinced that in this country private media are under attack by the government. We in the TV business have experienced this for a long time, and no one and I mean no one listened. The more damaging the revelations on your TV channel were, the more pressure was made to bear on you by the government. They did not like The Evening News and they especially did not like my commentaries so Jagdeo personally orchestrated the destruction of VCT 28. So attention must also be paid to channel CNS 6, Capitol News, Prime News and Channel 9. There are others and the opposition knows which channels support them and the opposition must defend and protect them.

This slapping incident at Skeldon is a serious matter, and I would like to rectify one misconception in the newspaper, where it is written that the “estate manager of the Skeldon factory” was slapped by a worker.

Actually the newspapers should be made aware that the estates are generally divided into four departments: the factory, the field, the office and personnel departments. All of these departments have departmental managers and the manager in charge of all four managers: office manager, factory manager, etc. is called the General Manager; this matter concerns the General Manager being slapped by a worker.

Even after nationalisation in May 1976 it was established and enshrined in immutable principles that no one must strike another on the job in the sugar industry. The principle even extended to no worker must strike another worker.

Since this matter will set a dangerous precedent if it is allowed to stand, that a worker can strike a manager with impunity we have to consider that sugar estate workers especially those who work in the fields carry some very dangerous implements, cutlasses most of them, shovels, forks etc. A cane cutter with a cutlass is a very dangerous man, more so than any common man and I don’t care how strong he is, a cane cutter with that blade is a deadly combination. And Mr. Mohamed Haniff of Versailles who was chopped by a cane cutter is a good example. Two fingers lost, fractured skull, broken thigh bone from a chop which went through the skin to the bone etc. And I want to remind my good friend Mr. Komal Chand that this was what can happen if we slacken the principle of no hitting.

Even the courts operate on this principle, a man cannot go to court if someone abuses him verbally, except of course the abuse contains defamation, at most it can be recorded as disorderly behaviour, but if a person slaps someone it’s assault, an entirely different and actionable criminal matter.

In this case it is alleged that the General Manager verbally abused the worker which he had no right to do drunk or sober, but there was no physical assault. But the worker simply responded by slapping the manager, that’s assault and the police should get involved since there were witnesses to this event and they have already stated that they saw it, and no one has said that it did not happen.

On the other hand, I am shocked and surprised that given the high profile aspect of this matter that the manager was not suspended without pay for abusing the worker in this manner. Has GuySuCo’s board descended into such a precipice of incompetence that they did not take action against the abusive manager?

The worker is correctly dismissed and the manager should be suspended for six months without pay.

The incompetence does not end there. The chief labour officer Ogle then rules in favour of the employee. If this ludicrous ruling stands, no boss in this country would be safe from his employees.

If the worst comes to the worst, I am more in favour that both should be fired and that will not create a precedent for the industry and will protect the other managers, but under no circumstances should this worker be reinstated.

Yours faithfully,

Tony Vieira