Uitvlugt estate or termination
-Wales workers have decision to make
Bent on receiving severance payments and not taking up jobs at Uitvlugt, cane-cutters and cane transport operators of the Wales estate may lose their jobs if they miss two consecutive crops.
They have already missed one crop for this year and Industrial Relations Manager of the Guyana Sugar Corporation, Deodat Sukhu said they have one more crop to consider.
He was at the time speaking to the media on Thursday following an unsuccessful meeting at the Wales Community Centre that attempted to inform workers about the Uitvlugt Estate Improvement Programme (UEIP).
He said the agreement is that they cannot miss two consecutive crops and that they have this coming crop to work to avoid self-terminating their services.
He said the matter is currently before the court and the court can terminate them or they can be selfterminated.
He encouraged them not to let that happen, as this would leave them without a job and without any benefits. Asked whether the workers were aware of their services being selfterminated, he said that among the grouping, there are representatives who understand union agreements.
Before the meeting started, the workers had converged on the roadside and insisted that they would not be going to Uitvlugt because the time it takes to get there would prevent them from achieving their target.
To that, Sukhu said they should ask the 51 employees who worked 68 days at Uitvlugt and are earning an average of $4,200 per day, which is far greater than their expected $2,600.
He said too that of the Wales estate employees, 389 were severed, 301 were kept at the estate at Wales and a further 375 are needed at Uitvlugt.
They held six meetings to consult with the workers [in groups of 50] and the union and based on the date used, it was found that the total years of service averaged about 13 years. The average age was said to be 43 years, along with 17 years of working life.
He said if severance is considered, it would be 38 weeks’ payment and since the money would not be much, it would be better for them to continue working with GuySuCo.
During a previous meeting he had told the workers that they have two options; to be transferred to Uitvlugt or remain on the Wales payroll. They had agreed to work at Uitvlugt and be paid a sustainable benefit.
According to him, the workers had a meeting a few days later with a political activist and were told that the APNU government must pay them off.
During Thursday’s meeting, all the workers were concerned about is that they be paid their severance benefits, in accordance with section 12 of the Termination of Employment & Severance Pay Act. The Act states that if the nearest estate for alternative employment is more than 10 miles away, the workers have to be paid severance benefits.
Should they be paid, their services would have to be terminated but President of the Guyana Agricultural & General Workers Union, Komal Chand had told Stabroek News that they cannot be discriminated against and GuySuCo can re-employ them. Senior Communications Officer of GuySuCo,