Workers of Blairmont Estate today held a picketing exercise outside of the Estate’s administrative office demanding a pay increase and “fair treatment” from the Guyana Sugar Corporation Incorporated (GuySuCo);
The action was carried out outside of the facility’s administrative office and comes on the heels of a petition that was issued to the president – signed by some 3,500 field and factory workers – where similar demands are being made.
According to the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), sugar workers have not benefitted from any rise in pay since the incumbent Administration took office in 2015. GAWU reported that during that period, sugar workers’ pay decreased owing to several factors, ultimately placing them and their families in a precarious situation.
“According to the picketers, the estate, a few months ago employed a former manager of Rose Hall Estate as an artisan. They allege that the recently employed worker was given a promotion while other workers who have been in the estate’s employ for some time and have sought promotion are not being similarly treated,” GAWU said.
Blairmont Estate is amongst the three sugar factories from which the 3,500 signatories are derived. The others are Albion and Uitvlugt.
