Uitvlugt estate or termination
Audreyanna Thomas said though, that it would not be wise to “terminate the services of the workers and pay them severance benefits when another estate a few miles away has over 400 vacancies and needs their services.”
She added: “The severance is a one-off payment but keeping the employees in our employ ensures they have secured employment.”
She said too that Uitvlugt has the wettest estate and is labour intensive and needs the labourers in order for it to achieve its objectives.
In terms of the meeting achieving its objective, Thomas said while that cannot happen in one meeting, it has achieved it somewhat, with the workers being able to see what is happening with the UEIP.
During the meeting, the workers asked what encouragement the corporation has to offer them to accept jobs at Uitvlugt but they were not provided with answers.
Thomas later told the media that that if the workers achieve their target they would benefit from the Weekly Production Incentives while they can also work for other incentives.
Other benefits, she said, include free medical services for them and their families. She also encouraged the private cane farmers who were supplying cane to Wales to continue at Uitvlugt.
Sukhu pointed out that while they have been refusing to go to Uitvlugt, the workers from the Skeldon estate, which did not have a first crop, were sent to the Blairmont, Albion and Rose Hall estate to work.
Previously, he said the Wales workers who are refusing to go to Uitvlugt were sent to Enmore and other estates during the outof-crop season, to work and were paid allowance.
He is not sure why the workers are refusing to go to Uitvlugt, and said that he is convinced a disturbance that the work at Uitvlugt currently is far better than it was at Wales.
He said GuySuCo would provide them with transportation and said they are free to register as Uitvlugt employees. But if they remain at Wales, they would be paid a transportation allowance.