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Sugar workers in Guyana partner with GMB London to implement labour laws

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Sugar workers in Guyana partner with GMB London to implement labour laws

Guyanese sugar labourer at work

Over the coming year, GMB London will be intensifying its partnership with two sugar unions in Guyana - NAACIE and GAWU - using £50,000 of the TUC's Partnership Programme Agreement funds.

In Guyana, while there are some good labour laws in place and important ILO conventions have been ratified, exploitation and unfair treatment within the sugar industry continues. Work in the sugar industry can be hard and poorly paid. Women field workers only get seasonal work, making it difficult to sustain a basic living. It is a sector of vital importance to the Guyanese economy but it has been hit by changes to the sugar trade with Europe and the fall in global sugar prices, along with a recent spate of poor harvests.

This project will train workplace representatives in the detail of existing labour laws to better enable the two Guyanese sugar unions to represent their members, take on cases, and improve terms, conditions, and health and safety for male and female sugar workers. GMB London will be working with GAWU, NAACIE and the International Union of Food workers to design training courses and a Law at Work handbook.

Komal Chand, President of Gawu in Guyana says, 'The project 'promoting legal rights and building union capacity in Guyana' provides an excellent opportunity for 120 members from the two unions in the sugar industry of Guyana to understand and to be able to apply themselves at the workplace to ensure that core pieces of labour legislation are respected and complied with by the employer, the Guyana Sugar Corporation.'

Jenny Webber GMB Training and Development Officer says, 'After three years of planning, and many more years of discussion, it is great to be able to start work on this project. The sugar industry is vital to Guyana, with 125,000 people (out of a total population of 750,000) dependent - directly or indirectly - on sugar for their livelihoods. This is a crucial time for the sugar industry in the Caribbean and countries are being forced to modernise or close the industry. It is vital that the unions and their members take a full part in the restructuring discussions, along with government and employers.'

She continues, 'Labour laws in Guyana are fairly progressive; however, the problem is that managers and reps are often unfamiliar with them. Hopefully this project will empower the union reps to take up issues and improve terms and conditions for their members.'

This project will build on the existing partnership between the GMB and the Guyanese unions. The GMB organises at Tate and Lyle which is one of the main buyers of Guyanese cane sugar in Europe. Over the last five years, GMB London has raised money to help GAWU build a new education centre in Georgetown (since their union offices were burnt down in a riot some years ago). They have also hosted three visits from Komal Chand (President of GAWU) and Kenneth Joseph (General Secretary of NAACIE) with GMB regional funds and TUC support. A small delegation from GMB went to Guyana in 2009 to hold a project planning workshop.

GMB and Guyanese union representatives during GMB project planning visit, November 2009

April 2010

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