{"id":3491,"date":"2012-02-21T11:51:57","date_gmt":"2012-02-21T16:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/?p=3491"},"modified":"2012-02-21T11:51:57","modified_gmt":"2012-02-21T16:51:57","slug":"blairmont-strike-continues-kn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/?p=3491","title":{"rendered":"Blairmont strike continues (KN)"},"content":{"rendered":"

– Rose Hall joins action for API<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

– workers resume at Albion, Skeldon and Wales<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Blairmont Estate sugar workers began their eighth day of industrial action yesterday<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Some of the spoilt cane which has been in punts over a week now at Blairmont.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

as they pressed on for the immediate removal of the Estate Manager, Corbette Victorine and the addressing of several issues. Events even took an interesting turn as administrative and other office staff of the estate also begun to strike, demanding Victorine stay on the job.<\/p>\n

While strike actions last week by sugar workers at Skeldon, Albion, Blairmont and Wales Sugar estates affected operations at these factories, those workers (except at Blairmont) returned to work on Sunday, last.<\/p>\n

However, yesterday, 13 workers at Wales staged a protest over the dismissal of one of their colleagues.<\/p>\n

At Blairmont early yesterday morning scores of workers gathered as they have usually been doing for the past week or so and found out that talks between the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and top executives of the sugar industry are still at a stalemate. As a result, little or no work has been carried out since last week Monday when the strike took effect. This has caused<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Blairmont Estate\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

several punts of cane to be spoiled and to be used as bagasse.<\/p>\n

According to Union Rep Motielall Dyal, the 6B2 Gang harvesters turned up on Sunday with the intention to work, \u201cbut with the stale cane price\u2014they ain\u2019t paying that price. They want to start with $100 and the rep was negotiating, and they said that they cannot give the price that the rep wanted, so everybody withdrew their labour,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

The representative continued that a meeting was held on Friday in Georgetown with Seepaul Narine of GAWU and other top officials and they (the workers) were told that the union did not officially call a strike and that the workers should return to work. The talks broke down since the workers still felt their needs were not being fully represented.<\/p>\n

Samuel Fraser, Field Workshop worker, added that \u201cOver twenty punts of canes have been spoiled\u2026.over 20 [punts] leave out the amounts in the field to bring out, [that is] over 2,000 tons. \u201cAll will have to go for bagasse\u2014it done spoil! A<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> AFC’s Gerhard Ramsaroop listening to striking API workers of Rose Hall Estate\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

whole set of cane damaged; money gone down the drain\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GuySuCo, Paul Bhim, told Kaieteur News yesterday that although the industry caters for delays in the grinding at factories, the incident at Blairmont is taking its toll.<\/p>\n

He explained that during the time in which the workers have put down their tools, about 20,000 tonnes of sugar cane could have harvested, and thus sugar production is being directly affected.<\/p>\n

With the low production for the past week, major problems are brewing, especially as it concerns the commitments that GuySuCo with CARICOM to supply a certain amount of sugar on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

Bhim, while highlighting the implications cause by the strike, related that the company is already cash strapped and production and sale are important aspects of the sustenance of the factory.<\/p>\n

\u2018We have commitments and obligations to export sugar to various countries, to CARICOM, and the longer the workers stay out, the worse our financial difficulties become. We need to earn money and we get it from our sugar production and we need this to help get out of our financial difficulties. We are appealing to the workers to think of these problems also because we really need them,\u201d said Bhim.<\/p>\n

ANNUAL PRODUCTION INCENTIVE (API) STRIKE<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, sugar workers attached to the Rose Hall Estate, were also striking yesterday, demanding the payment of the Annual Production Incentive (API). Rose Hall Estate, Canje workers congregated at the Tacama Turn in New Amsterdam where they vented their frustrations to the media and Alliance for Change (AFC) members present.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is no certainty that we will get we money, so we come out fuh voice we concern because we need we money\u2014on Friday coming!\u201d one worker noted. The workers were supposed to have been paid the API since January and are at their wits\u2019 end across the sugar industry, including at the estates in Blairmont and Albion, as well as Skeldon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sugar done sell and gone so where is the money? We ask why dem ain\u2019t tell it in parliament and they said this is not like before; the opposition got a say. The opposition is who they afraid of since the opposition will launch an investigation into GuySuCo,\u201d one worker said.<\/p>\n

AFC Member of Parliament, Gerhard Ramsaroop, who was present, outlined the AFC\u2019s position on the issue: \u201cWe are here in solidarity with the workers, because you have to be in solidarity with the working class, but we\u2019re not here to replace the union. We do not have the capacity to represent you all industrially, so we don\u2019t want to mislead anybody to say that our party is going to take up the cause of negotiation with management, but we will work for you through parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already talked to Nanda Gopaul and Komal Chand and asked them to intervene. We\u2019re asking GAWU to be more vigorous and active on behalf of the workers, notwithstanding their relationship with the PPP. You have got to make that separation, because workers\u2019 rights is workers\u2019 rights, and the PPP is supposed to be a working- class party, and what you have explained to me is definitely unjust because you are talking about last year\u2019s production, which has already been calculated, and what is due and based on what you said, the shifting of dates which is done twice already, and the third date is not even certain, so we understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramsaroop explained to the workers certain issues surrounding the crisis in the sugar industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was on the verge of collapse and bankruptcy. We understand they want to get a loan from Trinidad to which they will put GuySuCo lands as collateral. That is actually like if Guyana will be colonized by Trinidad if they fail. The AFC cannot be seen as coming in now and telling workers to stay off the job, because when the industry collapses, the blame will be on the AFC.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AFC parliamentarian noted that the party\u2019s position is that the sugar industry is still vital to Guyana, in terms of the energy it can produce, like ethanol.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support those kinds of initiatives, because it will save the industry because you\u2019re not just depending on selling the sugar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be mechanization but that does not mean you will lose your job because new lands will have to be opened on a very large scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

The workers said that they know GuySuCo has the money to pay them and questioned why it was not being paid.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraditionally, you\u2019re paid the API in January, and the issue is the pushing back and we understand life is hard. You\u2019ve got your children, VAT\u2026 so we are in support,\u201d Ramsaroop told the workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, although it is government mismanagement and waste, the industry is in trouble and it is not your fault\u2014they (government) created it!\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past two years, we ain\u2019t hear no audit of GuySuCo and leh we know what is happening. We ain\u2019t hear how much profit they make. That is what we want!\u201d said one worker.<\/p>\n

The workers said that they will continue to strike until they receive their API.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– Rose Hall joins action for API – workers resume at Albion, Skeldon and Wales Blairmont Estate sugar workers began their eighth day of industrial action yesterday Some of the spoilt cane which has been in punts over a week now at Blairmont.\u00a0 as they pressed on for the immediate removal of the Estate Manager, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latestnews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/image001-2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4F7T1-Uj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}