The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has been hit by more industrial action as over 80% of the clerical and technical staff at sugar estates across the country downed tools yesterday after an expected salary increase was denied by the corporation.
The workers, who are represented by the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), took industrial action upon being informed that GuySuCo has decided not to increase their pay commensurately with their status.
NAACIE stated in a release that the workers took strike action over what is viewed as “significant anomalies” as regards their wages and salaries. The anomalies were confirmed by a recent job evaluation and salary survey exercise.
GuySuCo officials could not be reached for a comment yesterday and staff members at the entity’s head office at Ogle, East Coast Demerara told Stabroek News that several management meetings were being held at the time.
NAACIE stated that it fully supported the aggrieved workers, and the body’s General Secretary, Kenneth Joseph told Stabroek News that the employees on strike include clerical and medical staff, boiler operators, laboratory technicians, workshop supervisors, foremen and office staff at the corporation’s base at Ogle as well as administration offices at La Bonne Intention (LBI).
According to Joseph, NAACIE met with GuySuCo on several occasions, including this week to discuss the pay anomalies, however, he noted that while the corporation recognised the arguments and rationale being argued by the body, it refused to heed the call of the union and the employees.
He said that NAACIE will now look towards engaging the recently elected Chairman of the Board of GuySuCo, Dr Rajendra Singh, whom he noted is overseas. He said that if such engagements fail, the body will move towards having an audience with Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy and further, President Donald Ramotar.
As regards the latter, Joseph said that in the past NAACIE had seen positive results when former President Bharrat Jagdeo intervened on behalf of the workers.
According to NAACIE, the corporation agreed in principle for the implementation of the job evaluation and salary survey results for Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU)-represented employees, some at very junior positions and this would begin soon with those workers receiving significant increases as compared to the NAACIE-represented employees, whom it noted “are actually in more senior categories than their GAWU counterparts”.
Joseph explained in a press release yesterday that the Justice Prem Persaud Arbitration Tribunal had recommended an evaluation and survey in 2003. Joseph elaborated that the corporation at some expense, contracted an overseas firm ‘HAY’, which has a base in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago to conduct another exercise.
He pointed out that after the first survey, senior management staff members of GuySuCo approached NAACIE for representation on salaries. The job evaluation resulted in quick adjustment upwards to avoid them being organised by NAACIE or any other body, the release said.
“The reality of the wages structure especially since the across the board was introduced to workers in Guyana was the bunching of salaries even to the point where cleaners were paid similar to clerks and at times a higher rate than clerical employees and many similar anomalies”, NAACIE stated.
NAACIE said that it was struggling relentlessly to have the system changed, to the point where there were numerous impositions of annual salary increases by GuySuCo to workers.
According to the statement, another job evaluation salary survey was undertaken, this time by the two parties, via a GuySuCo team whose members were trained by the HAY Group. Both parties recognised the discrepancies between the junior staff and non-management workers of specific categories especially GAWU’s time-rated members.
On July 8, 2012, the two bodies agreed in principle to honour the findings of the second job evaluation salary survey, even still recognising other anomalies. A third survey was undertaken and according to NAACIE, the results proved even greater consideration was needed of upward adjustments to the various categories of workers and according to the body all attempts to bring about the changes reached a dead end on Wednesday of this week when GuySuCo indicated that it could not pay the increase.
The cash-strapped GuySuCo has been hit by a wave of industrial action this year, which played a key role in the lowest production (71 146 tonnes of sugar) for the first crop in years.
