Please see below full press release-
The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Guyana
Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) earlier today (December 13, 2022) inked an
updated Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) paving the way for sugar workers
to benefit from improved pay and other conditions of work. The agreement was
arrived at after several meetings between the parties over the past few
weeks. Through the agreement reached with the Corporation, sugar workers on
the payroll will receive an eight (8) percent wage/salary increase
retroactive to January 01, 2022.
Also, arising from the discussions between the parties, workers will benefit
from improved allowances and benefits which are also retroactive to the
beginning of the year. The agreement also caters for appropriate adjustments
to pay scales and other piece rates in keeping with the across-the-board
improvement. The GAWU and the GuySuCo have also agreed to improvements in
some issues regarding personal protective equipment (PPE) which workers will
benefit going forward.
In delivering brief remarks at the signing, GAWU’s President Seepaul Narine
shared that the Union and the workers took into account the present
constraints confronting the industry. He noted that the Union anticipated
that improvements would be forthcoming arising from the investments into the
industry. The Union’s President also expressed appreciation to the
Government of Guyana, and in particular President Irfaan Ali and his
Cabinet, for their support in paving the way for the agreement to be
reached. Mr Narine shared that the Union was heartened to reach an agreement
and though he noted that there were disagreements during the discussions, he
felt that the mature and respectful exchanges served to enhance the
