BACK AT WORK … fired GuySuCo worker reinstated

DANIEL Stephen, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) worker who was summarily dismissed from his post last year, has been reinstated following a 16-month battle with the sugar company.Ministers of Agriculture and Social Protection, Noel Holder and Simona Broomes respectively, announced yesterday that Stephen will be allowed to work at the sugar company as of today.

An emotional Stephen told this publication that he is thankful for the assistance he received from the ministers and the union. “I appreciate it…. Without their help, I may not have gotten through anytime soon,” he said.

He said his dismissal from the sugar company had left him “very disappointed”, but he was determined to be reinstated.
Stephen was verbally dismissed on the night of September 19, 2014 by Skeldon Estate Manager Devendra Kumar following an incident between them.

Daniel Stephen, speaking with Ministry of Social Protection’s Consultant Francis Carryl; President of GAWU, Komal Chand; and General Secretary Seepaul Narine yesterday at the Ministry of Social Protection

Asked how he feels about being reinstated, the teary-eyed man said, “I feel comfortable, relieved…. I lose my home…” He explained that just before his dismissal from GuySuCo, he and his wife separated. The separation, coupled with his dismissal from the job and the loss of his house, was a horrifying experience for the 45-year-old tractor operator.

“The situation was really tough; but, thank God, I can now make myself comfortable. What I would ask you guys for is if Housing can give me back a piece of land and I can start all over again,” he asked Minister Simona Broomes. “My son’s birthday was yesterday, and all I could have given him was a call; nothing more,” he said as he noted that his son, who is 15 years old, understands the struggle he has been through.
“I have lots of debts… I owe people about $295,000,” he replied to the question of him receiving his money from GuySuCo. “It was my friends who were supporting me…they assisted me throughout,” he added.

Stephen is expected to resume duty today at the Skeldon Sugar Estate. He will be taken to the Sugar Estate by a representative each from the Ministry of Labour and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU).

“Once there is life, there is hope,” the optimistic man said, as he noted that although it would be difficult to pick up the pieces, he would be starting life afresh.
“I won’t give up so easily,” he said.

He explained that his house was repossessed by the bank, but he holds no malice, because the bank had given him “the world of time” to come up with the money to pay his mortgage.

Meanwhile, Minister Holder said that an injustice has been corrected, and he is pleased that the situation has been resolved promptly. He said that upon taking office, he was briefed on the situation, and was determined to have a final resolution to the matter. He met with executives of the GuySuCo Board, including Errol Hanoman (CEO ag), who agreed to review the matter.

INJUSTICE
“We think an injustice had been (perpetrated) on this individual… what I am pleased to say is that, from this government’s standpoint, we have taken a hands-off policy: we will not micro manage, we will not get involved in politics — be it rice industry, sugar industry, or any industry…. That is not government’s function,” Holder assured.

He said that since government was elected to office, there have been positive changes in the sugar industry. “Within the six months, the sugar industry has had a big turnaround. Management has been allowed to manage, workers allowed to work, and you can see the kind of results you are getting,” the minister added.

Holder is optimistic that the incident of Daniel Stephen would be the last of its kind occurring in local companies.

“I am glad this matter has been resolved promptly, effectively; and hope there are no other situations of this nature to deal with,” he told the media.

Similarly, Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes, said it was unacceptable that the previous administration did nothing to assist Stephen. She told the Guyana Chronicle that Stephen was “made to suffer…he lost everything, and it had to take a new government to come in and rectify the situation.”

Minister Broomes, like Minister Holder, has said she is pleased that the matter has been resolved and Stephen has been reinstated.

“I think your rights were violated and I had promised that it is a matter we would look into…I am happy you’d have your years of service and you’d receive some money,” she said.

RE-APPLY
The minister urged him to re-apply to the Ministry of Housing for a house lot in a bid to restart his life. “I hope that nothing of the sort happens again. Such things will not be tolerated,” she told this publication.

Additionally, Francis Carryl, Consultant to the Ministry of Social Protection’s Department of Labour, described the matter involving Stephen as “quite emotional; sensitive; and very, very interesting.”
“This matter struck at the very foundation of fairness, justice, equality, and all of the good adjectives you can think about in labour management relations. I say justice…but it is both justice and natural justice; they are two separate and distinct concepts. I mention them because both of them have been assaulted with great vengeance, and I think that today’s decision brings to an end and the correction to the injustice that Mr Daniel had to suffer,” the consultant said.
Carryl said, “It is indeed a great day that an injustice has been corrected. It took a while, a great while, much too long; but the fact of the matter is (that) it has come to an end.”

He, like Ministers Holder and Broomes, said such an issue should not recur. “I hope this doesn’t happen again in this company or any other company; because, at the end of the day, what really matters is the people, and a man has suffered. No reasonable thinking man would have come to the decision that was arrived at. I think that, today, it is reasonableness that has brought us to this point.”
The consultant said that, as a practitioner for over 30 years, he has never seen such “an unjust act being made out against anyone”.

VERY THANKFUL
Meanwhile, President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand, was appreciative of the work of both ministries in resolving the matter.
“Justice has been completed,” he said. “I must be very, very thankful to this ministry and your dispensation.”

In January, Stephen and GAWU moved to the High Court after arbitrator Mohamed Akeel concluded that Stephen was dismissed. The union had opposed Akeel’s findings, and Stephen made an application to the High Court in his own name. In March, acting Chief Justice at the time, Ian Chang, sent GAWU and GuySuCo back to arbitration after discharging the interim injunctions that were granted earlier in the year to prevent GuySuCo from treating Stephen as if he were abruptly dismissed.

By Ariana Gordon