GuySuCo cries foul as Uitvlugt workers go on strike
GuySuCo cries foul as Uitvlugt workers go on strike
The new gearbox was installed at the Uitvlugt Sugar Factory last week (Photos: GUYSUCO)
Kaieteur News – Mere hours after the factory resumed operations after a three-month hiatus, workers at the Uitvlugt Sugar Estate on Tuesday proceeded on strike action demanding Holiday with Pay for the first crop 2022.
In a release, the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo) expressed “grave concern in relation to the strike action taken by the workers…” According to GuySuCo, with the factory having only ground for 14 hours in the First Crop due to a mechanical failure, grinding operations for the Second Crop was set to commence Tuesday; however, disappointingly, the factory workers decided to proceed on strike.
The Sugar Corporation said management had earlier addressed the issue of holiday with pay at a meeting held on May 31, 2022 with the GAWU’s Union Representative attached to the Estate. At that meeting, the Estate Manager informed the Union Representatives that for HWP to be facilitated, a factory will have to be established which requires at one week of grinding. “The estate is fully ready to commence grinding operations for the Second Crop, in pursuit of a sugar production target of 10,800 metric tonnes (MT).
Two hundred and twenty-three punts of cane were in dock yesterday, ready to be crushed; however, this strike action by the factory workers does not augur well for the Estate and the Corporation.” GuySuCo said with Blairmont and Albion Estates expected to commence grinding for the Second Crop of 2022, within the next two weeks, it is paramount for Uitvlugt Estate to produce sugar to fulfill the needs of the local market.
“The Corporation therefore urges all employees of Uitvlugt Estate to work harmoniously and would also like to call on the GAWU to provide the support needed at this time.”
For its part, GAWU said its workers staged a picketing exercise outside of the estate calling on the GuySuCo to honour holiday-with-pay (HWP) payments for the first crop 2022. HWP is paid to workers in lieu of annual leave and provided at end of each crop to qualified workers. The 2022 first crop at Uitvlugt was truncated arising from issues within the factory, however, workers continued to work and were qualified to receive their entitlements which is in keeping with the Collective Labour Agreement between GAWU and GuySuCo, GAWU said.
“The estate contends that the workers are not entitled to the HWP payments. At the same time, other sections of the employees continue to receive their full annual leave entitlements. For the workers, this is disturbing as they all benefitted similarly from the support of the Government. Previously, the workers indicated that the Management informed them that certain computations were being undertaken towards addressing the payments. Without any forewarning, the Corporation changed its position and only offered HWP to workers engaged in planting tasks,” the release added. According to GAWU the workers became more upset after the Corporation’s CEO entered the estate compound without even seeking to ascertain the reason/s for the workers picketing. They said they felt disrespected that the senior-most executive who had previously professed his commitment to the workers could not have even asked of their difficulty.
Only last week this newspaper reported that after being out of operations for over three months due to mechanical issues to one of its critical parts, the Uitvlugt Sugar Factory was expected to be back in full operation this week. However, industry insiders had told this newspaper at the time that the estate could struggle to find field and factory workers. While the factory was down, a number of the workers were urged to seek alternative jobs. Some were also offered part-time jobs outside of the industry.
“It might be difficult to get some of those folks to come back to the industry,” a source close to GuySuCo told this newspaper. Asked about this Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said quite the opposite, assuring: “there is enough work force to get the operation going again. There are indeed enough workers who will resume work when the facility is opened.”
He added that with the factory in the process of opening, it would certainly boost sugar production in the country. When this factory was closed only two estates, Blairmont and Albion were in operation. Not answering directly how much the absence of the Uitvlugt factory not being in operation would have contributed to the shortfall of sugar production in the country, the minister related that now with it slated to be opened, “we will have more production and sugar be produced.”
The Corporation last year produced 30,865MT less of sugar when compared with 2020. Based on a report, GuySuCo’s pre-audited production stood at 58,025MT of sugar in 2021 compared to 88,890MT in 2020. Despite the significant shortfall, the Corporation had said it met all the needs of the local market for 2021. It was explained that the shortfall was a result of the loss of some 35 percent of the standing cane during the 2nd Crop of 2021 due to the flood.
“At Albion, where 50 percent of the production was programmed to be made, the mortality rate for the standing canes planned to be harvested for the 1st Crop of 2022 is estimated at 80 percent due to the floods. On the Berbice Estates where more than 77 percent of the production is made, the rainfalls in 2021 were 72 percent more than the previous year,” GuySuCo detailed, while noting that it drained some 4.5 million tonnes of water off the land daily during the 65-day flood.
The ailing sugar corporation has seen, over the years, a continuous decline in performance in terms of production but has seen billions of dollars from the nation’s coffers being plugged annually into the industry. In its Mid-Year Report last year, the Government had acknowledged that the sugar industry continues to decline. In the financial report, the Ministry of Finance said that at the end of the first half of 2021, GuySuCo produced 29,650 tonnes of sugar.
“This performance reflects the record high levels of rainfall, which resulted in waterlogged soils, particularly at the Albion Estate, and strike action that resulted in over 5,600 man-days being lost,” the Mid-Year Report indicated. As such, it was emphasised that the sugar industry declined by 22.4 percent when compared to the same period in 2020.
Some of the reasons indicated were a 30 percent mortality of mature cane at Albion Estate, 10 percent at Uitvlugt and five percent at Blairmont due to the floods. Another 15,000 tonnes of sugar in the second crop were also expected to be lost, based on the Report. It should be noted that for last year alone, GuySuCo received over $6 billion from the National Treasury for its operations and this year, it received a further $6B in the budget.
