GAWU General Council resolutions

General Council Meeting GAWU Head Office June 23, 2018

Resolutions Resolution on the sugar industry The General Council of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) is deeply concerned that the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) is being managed without a functioning Board of Directors since February, 2018 and about the public disagreements between the Corporation and the NICIL-SPU; The Board’s absence stymies the approval of plans aimed at improving the industry’s production and productivity and diversifying its revenue base through funding secured by GuySuCo from the issuance of a $30B bond which is guaranteed by the Government of Guyana; The delay in approving and implementing a considered and workable plan will inflict further harm to the industry and could very well undermine the Administration’s commitment to maintain Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt Estates, and Taking those factors into account, the Council calls on the Government of Guyana to immediately appoint a competent Board of Directors for the GuySuCo with a clear mandate to maintain the operations under the Corporation’s auspices, and to involve the workers representative organisations towards putting GuySuCo’s estates on a sustainable and viable footing.

General Council Meeting – June 22, 2018

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Resolution in solidarity with workers of closed estates The General Council of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) expresses its continuous solidarity with the 7,000 workers who have lost their jobs following the haphazard and callous decision to close Skeldon, Rose Hall, East Demerara and Wales Estates in recent times; The Council was very disturbed to learn that many of the redundant workers still remain jobless unable to secure decent, permanent jobs which has had serious consequences for them and their families; The Council also learnt the jobless workers are facing hard times with some being unable to continue to send their children to school, or to pay their bills, or to put food on their table, and In considering such dire circumstances face by fellow workers, the Council calls on the Government of Guyana to implement a programme of safety nets in the communities linked to the now closed estates to urgently address the serious challenges the ex-sugar workers and their families and others in the communities must contend with, with a view to alleviate their hardships.

General Council Meeting – June 22, 2018

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Resolution calling for collective bargaining in the sugar industry The General Council of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has recognized that the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) has not been engaging in Collective Bargaining since 2015; The Council is aware that the ILO Conventions and the Guyana Trade Union Recognition Act deems Collective Bargaining as engaging in good faith discussions which involves full and proper consideration of arguments and rationales advanced; The Council is of the considered view that engagements between the Union and the GuySuCo on the matters of pay rise and improvements in working conditions, in view of the ILO and the Laws of Guyana, could not be deemed as Collective Bargaining, and Thus the Council calls on the GuySuCo to engage the Union in true and proper Collective Bargaining and to seek to address in a meaningful manner the plight of the workers at this time.

General Council Meeting – June 22, 2018

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Resolution calling on Government to honour outstanding redundancy pay to jobless sugar workers The General Council of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) was upset to learn that the GuySuCo and the Government paid workers of Skeldon, Rose Hall, East Demerara and Wales estates would receive their redundancy pay in two (2) halves if their entitlement exceeded $500,000; The Council recognized that the approach adopted is contrary to Section 21(1) of the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act which requires redundant workers to be fully paid at the end of their notice period, and In view of this travesty, the Council calls on the Government to respect the Laws of Guyana and without further delay honour its obligations to the beleaguered, now jobless, ex-sugar workers.

General Council Meeting – June 22, 2018

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Resolution in solidarity with the workers of BEV Processors Inc The General Council of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union was particularly dismayed to learn of the closure of BEV Processors Inc in mid-July, 2018; The Council is aware that many of the 390 workers stand to be affected and a significant proportion of whom are women and some of whom are single parents; The Council noted that the closure could not have come at a worst time when several thousand workers in the sugar industry and elsewhere have been made jobless in recent times, and Given this sad development, the Council stands in full solidarity with the workers of BEV Processors Inc at this difficult time in their lives and urges management to ensure workers’ rights and entitlements are respected while, at the same time, addressing the job situation.

General Council Meeting – June 22, 2018

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