GAWU attends IUF meetings in Jamaica

Partcipants attending the IUF meetings in Jamaica

From June 22 to 23, 2009, Cde Uranie Heeram from Skeldon Estate, represented GAWU at an IUF sponsored Trade Union Exchange visit for Women Workers in Jamaica. As part of the programme, Cde Heeram along Cde Frederica Riley of the Waterfront & Allied Workers’ Union (WAWU) of Dominica, visited St Mary’s Bananas Estate where they met with some members of the workers union – the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) and the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) and observed aspects of the working conditions at the plantation.

The delegates also visited St Thomas Sugar Estate which is located on the eastern end of the island. There, they learned that St Thomas Sugar Estate and the Trelawny Estate were recently privatized. The new owner of St Thomas Sugar Estate is the largest cane farmer in the island who recently announced plans to reactivate production of sugar on his newly acquired Estate. The visitors sensed an atmosphere of fear and anxiety among the field and factory workers, who are concerned about the downsizing of the workforce and the consequential redundancies.

The Guyanese delegate was later joined by Cde Aslim Singh, Research Officer of the GAWU who along with Cde Heeram attended the Regional Sugar Meeting, which was held on June 24 – 26, 2009. There were eighteen (18) delegates participating in that meeting, drawn from the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) from Guyana, the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) and the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) from Jamaica, the Barbados Workers Union (BWU) from Barbados and the Belize Workers Union (BWU) from Belize.

Delegates benefited from a presentation by the Jamaican Sugar Transformation Unit which provided significant information about the Jamaican Sugar Industry Divestment Programme. This body is an arm of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for the divestment of the Sugar Industry and the implementation of the Jamaican Sugar Action Plan. The Unit is guided in its work of the Sugar Steering Committee comprising representatives of the Government, the Unions, the Cane Farmers Association and the Sugar Corporation of Jamaica (SCJ)

Delegates in their discussions updated participants on the current status of their countries sugar industries and indicated the measures which are being implemented in order to alleviate the full impact of the 36% cut in price during 2006 – 2009 of sugar exported to the European Union (EU). In deliberating on the future of their industries, the unionists lamented the slothful release of funding by the EU, which has committed to mitigate the negative effects of the price slash.

The meeting concluded that Unions must ensure their full involvement in the process ahead as their industries chart a somewhat dissimilar course in the ensuing months and years. Participants observed that the flow of full information to the Unions from the industry remains paramount.

On another score, the meeting decided on the expansion of the IUF work in the Region. The rum and soft drinks industries are targeted, noting that sugar is one of the main ingredients used by these industries. It was agreed that unionized members of rum and soft drink industries would benefit from future IUF sponsored activities.

The meeting also reaffirmed IUF’s general objectives in having more women in leadership structures of Unions and other related bodies; the need to develop their skills, and boost their morale and self esteem. Finally it was also agreed that the IUF sugar and bananas projects will provide information materials on issues such as Workers Rights, Maternity protection, Discrimination, Occupation Health & Safety and Equality.

The two sets of IUF sponsored activities were successful and the participating unions benefited from the visits, interactions, discussions and decisions.