East Demerara Sugar Workers on Strike
The Alliance for Change, represented by Gerhard Ramsaroop and accompanied by Freddie Kissoon, on Tuesday, 28 February 2012, met with some of the East Demerara sugar workers who were on strike, in Enterprise. They said that six gangs were on strike, two from La Bonne Intention (LBI) and four from Enmore, totalling one thousand workers. The burning issue being that when previously they were paid for whatever cane they cut, they now have to cut ten rows of cane before the task is considered completed and that they can be paid for.
It is the workers contention that they cannot complete this task in a day, the maximum being six rows, and therefore, they must work for two days before they can get one day’s pay. They claim that there were discussions on this issue between the union, GAWU, and management on Friday, 24 February 2010, and were expecting a positive outcome. However, on Sunday, 26 February 2012, they were told that management’s position had not changed. Today’s trike was a reaction to that.
The AFC made it clear to the workers that it was not there to replace the union, but to highlight the cause of the workers in the hope of a speedy resolution. The AFC emphasised that the sugar industry is in trouble and that Guyana cannot afford for it to collapse. It is vital not just for sugar production, but also to the energy sector.
The workers told the AFC they were also concerned about one hundred and twenty-six punts of cane that was dumped because the factory refused to grind them. They say that this will adversely affect their Annual Production Incentive (API) and want an explanation. They pointed out too that cane was planted far in the backdam costing some G$133M, but because no canals were dug and the soil being too soft for tractors and trailers, the cane had to be left uncut. They are also concerned about the machinery that is being bought by GuySuCo. This includes the tractors at Blairmont Estate that were purportedly bought for G$18M each and didn’t last more than a few weeks in the fields before experiencing major damage, for which there was no apparent warranty. They also claim that new Bell loaders had to have their booms replaced in an unusually short time, and wondered if the machinery is not tested prior to purchase.
They also pointed out to suspicious large thefts occurring, for example one hundred and twenty-eight heavy-duty tyres and five hundred twenty foot drainage tubes were lost at LBI. It is the workers feeling that given there wasn’t a sufficient tightening of security that these could be inside jobs. They also believe that there is corruption between contractors of machinery and those who hire them. They feel that not enough is being done to cut on these types of costs, and all the pressure is brought to bear on them. They pointed out too that the number of tools (broad axes and cutlasses) allocated to them for decades has now been cut down, and when they break, GuySuCo refuses to replace them.
End.
The Alliance for Change, represented by Gerhard Ramsaroop and accompanied by Freddie Kissoon, on Tuesday, 28 February 2012, met with some of the East Demerara sugar workers who were on strike, in Enterprise. They said that six gangs were on strike, two from La Bonne Intention (LBI) and four from Enmore, totalling one thousand workers. The burning issue being that when previously they were paid for whatever cane they cut, they now have to cut ten rows of cane before the task is considered completed and that they can be paid for.
It is the workers contention that they cannot complete this task in a day, the maximum being six rows, and therefore, they must work for two days before they can get one day’s pay. They claim that there were discussions on this issue between the union, GAWU, and management on Friday, 24 February 2010, and were expecting a positive outcome. However, on Sunday, 26 February 2012, they were told that management’s position had not changed. Today’s trike was a reaction to that.
The AFC made it clear to the workers that it was not there to replace the union, but to highlight the cause of the workers in the hope of a speedy resolution. The AFC emphasised that the sugar industry is in trouble and that Guyana cannot afford for it to collapse. It is vital not just for sugar production, but also to the energy sector.
The workers told the AFC they were also concerned about one hundred and twenty-six punts of cane that was dumped because the factory refused to grind them. They say that this will adversely affect their Annual Production Incentive (API) and want an explanation. They pointed out too that cane was planted far in the backdam costing some G$133M, but because no canals were dug and the soil being too soft for tractors and trailers, the cane had to be left uncut. They are also concerned about the machinery that is being bought by GuySuCo. This includes the tractors at Blairmont Estate that were purportedly bought for G$18M each and didn’t last more than a few weeks in the fields before experiencing major damage, for which there was no apparent warranty. They also claim that new Bell loaders had to have their booms replaced in an unusually short time, and wondered if the machinery is not tested prior to purchase.
They also pointed out to suspicious large thefts occurring, for example one hundred and twenty-eight heavy-duty tyres and five hundred twenty foot drainage tubes were lost at LBI. It is the workers feeling that given there wasn’t a sufficient tightening of security that these could be inside jobs. They also believe that there is corruption between contractors of machinery and those who hire them. They feel that not enough is being done to cut on these types of costs, and all the pressure is brought to bear on them. They pointed out too that the number of tools (broad axes and cutlasses) allocated to them for decades has now been cut down, and when they break, GuySuCo refuses to replace them.
End.
.
