Guysuco offers sugar workers a 5 percent increase

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) on Monday said it offered field and factory workers a 5 percent increase in wages and negotiations are continuing with the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU).

Refuting a report in the pro-opposition Guyana Times newspaper that Guysuco’s offer was “around’ one percent, the state-owned sugar corporation said that  on Friday February 7, 2020, the Corporation made an offer of 5% increase in wages to the GAWU.

Guysuco said the union informed the Corporation’s team that “it will proceed to consult with its membership and return to the Corporation.”

The entity said discussions over wages and conditions were continuing with GAWU and the other sugar workers union, the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), dating back to 2019.

“Those negotiations are continuing. The objectives of the negotiations are to arrive at positions that are fair to the workforce and also which can be sustained by the Industry,” Guysuco said.

Guysuco noted that the the sugar industry is going through a period of readjustment and modernization in “a period of challenging markets for our current products.”

“The investments that are required to strengthen the Industry’s competitiveness and diversify its production will require commitment and sacrifice by all its stakeholders,” the Corporation added.