The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) is questioning the validity of the figures that were reflected in the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report into GuySuCo, stating that the salaries of workers were grossly exaggerated.
At the union’s end-of-year press briefing held at GAWU’s head office in Kingston yesterday, union President Komal Chand called the figures documented in the report which was tabled on Wednesday in Parliament “highly inflated and “misleading.”
“We would like to have some evidence of these numbers and some explanation because these numbers are very high and if indeed… the average worker could earn this sum of money then there would be no problems to have workers within the industry. There might be problems to reject and select,” Chand said.
“We have been able to quickly obtain some payslips which indicate the real earnings of workers along the same categories… mentioned in the report,” Chand stated.
He said a quick assessment of job titles and corresponding pay was contradictory to what was stated in the report. He stated that they were not even coming across “favoured” employees with the level of pay documented.
“Let us go to the facts… you shouldn’t have a problem if a cane cutter can earn on average as they said $2.4 million per year…,” Chand stated.
He said that instead of an accurate assessment the figures reflected in the report were “to fool the Guyanese people to justify ‘look sugar workers are highly paid.’”
GAWU General Secretary Seepaul Narine read from a number of payslips. He said that a factory worker at “East Demerara earning $1.2 million… We have a cane cutter at East Demerara and this is a high earner, $1.4 million; and a cane cutter at Enmore again earning $1.194 million say $1.2 million. Cane cutter at Uitvlugt earning $1.2 million these are high earners. Then you have an average earner, cane cutter at Uitvlugt $830,000. Cane cutter at Wales $706,000. This is the average… fertilizing hand $583,000 and this is almost the average because they get regular work across the estate. Cane transport high earner they have $1.8 million…and then factory worker at Wales $1.2 million.”
According to the CoI report harvesters make $2.47 million, cane transporters $7.97 million, Mechanical tillage $2.91 million, field workshop $2.67 million, planters $1.83 million, fertilisers $1.87 million, pest controllers $1.89 million and weeders $870,771 annually.
Wages
Chand held steadfast to the current legal structure of the Trade Union Recognition Act as well as collective bargaining measures. He noted that under the rule of law GuySuCo was required to engage with the unions to settle wage disputes.
When Stabroek News brought up that the CoI recommendations suggest that wages and salaries not be increased for at least a year, Chand said that the government is still to pronounce where it stands on the recommendations.
After the press briefing Chand told Stabroek News that GuySuCo still has an outstanding sum of over $274 million owing to the union inclusive of $120 million for union dues and almost $155 million to be paid to the credit union.
As at May 31 last year, the outstanding sum owed to the credit union totalled $188,045,825. As a result, GAWU had advised its members across the sugar industry that it had requested that GuySuCo cease deducting credit union savings from workers’ wages with effect from week-ending May 30, 2015. In July GuySuCo recommenced deductions of contributions.
No to privatisation
The union expressed satisfaction with the CoI report’s recommendations to re-acquire the cogeneration plant at Skeldon as well as use the Enmore packing plants along with the smaller packaging capabilities at Blairmont Estate to generate income. Chand stated that the two estates put together can produce roughly 50,000 tonnes of packaged, value-added sugar that can be internationally marketed.
“Sugar is still a sustainable business,” Chand told members of the media. He stated that the unions, inclusive of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) were opposed to privatisation.
Chand told reporters that if GuySuCo was aimed at preparing the entity for privatisation the union was of the view that the industry could still be profitable as a public entity.
Moving forward, Chand said the union would need to await an official announcement from the government as to whether or not the report and its recommendations would be accepted as an official plan of action.
He said it was the union’s desire to have government proclaim prior to the commencement of the first crop of 2016 what the course of action will be.
Highlighting, contradictory opinions to what was in the report, he recalled that recently, Minister of State Joseph Harmon had said that cane from both the Wales and Uitvlugt estates would grind at the latter.
He said the report does not recommend closure of individual estates, however the minister’s pronouncements signal a shift from this as Wales would be capable of grinding its own cane.
