The first sitting of the Arbitration Tribunal to examine salary negotiations between GuySuCo and GAWU was held last Saturday and the union says it will argue that there has been company mismanagement among other points.
The Arbitration Panel comprises Dr Gobind Ganga, Norman McLean and Cecil Seepersaud.
GAWU is seeking a 14.25 per cent pay increase for workers, while GuySuCo has offered 5.25 per cent. The union was represented by 52 persons at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, the majority of whom represented the eight sugar estates.
According to a GAWU release, Trinidadian Dr Roodal Moonilal, the Industrial Relations Consultant/ Development Analyst, was the union’s lead person before the tribunal. In his presentation, he highlighted that at the last arbitration proceedings in 2002, GuySuCo had presented itself as a company on the brink of collapse, claiming that it was unable to afford the increase demanded.
Now as back then, he said, the corporation’s principal argument was its inability to pay. He argued that this was an unacceptable reason not to satisfy the union’s claim and cited the precedent laid down by the Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago, which determined that inability to pay was not a justifiable reason to refuse a wage demand.
Apart from arguing that mismanagement of the corporation had led to poor production, Moonilal emphasised the negative impact of the rising cost of living on workers.
Additionally, he made reference to the rate of inflation as published by the Bureau of Statistics and the effect this has had on the welfare of the workers and their families.
The next sitting of the tribunal is slated for October 18.
Moonilal is expected to continue his presentation later.
