From various accounts, Christians believe that the Christ Child, born in extra-ordinary poor-people, working-class surroundings, grew up to fill the prophesized role of Messiah.

Messiah, in one sense, refers to a liberator of the oppressed. May the spirit of the Christian Christ Child shine upon the hearts of all rulers, formal and informal authorities and, especially, Guyana’s managers and employers, so that they will see the light and wisdom of treating their workers and the less fortunate much better. Good governments and good employers can indeed become the Messiahs of the masses who are so frequently under stress and strain. Read the rest of this entry »

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the thousands of sugar workers it represents are sadly disappointed at the Award by the Gobind Ganga Arbitration Tribunal. The Tribunal, at a hurriedly summoned meeting on (Tuesday) 8th December, 2009, presented the Report of the Tribunal to the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (Guysuco) at the Roof Garden of the Bank of Guyana. With respect to the wage/salary adjustment for this year (2009) the Report states “The Tribunal recommends an across the board increase of 3.0 per cent for 2009 which should be paid no later than the end of March, 2010.”

Indeed, sad days are ahead for the thousands of toiling, productive sugar workers. THE GOVERNMENT APPOINTED TRIBUNAL undoubtedly, in executing its special mandate, ignominiously transferred and embraced the three (3) per cent offer proposed by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) originally. GAWU sees this as an injustice of the highest order. To add insult to injury to the poor sugar workers, the sugar bosses have been given until 31st March, 2010 to pay the pittance.

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The almost twenty five (25) employees of the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund Committee (SILWFC) staged a protest and picketing exercise today (7th December, 2009) outside the headquarters of SILWFC in Barrack Street, Kingston to have an agreement improving wages/salaries and other fringe benefits reached between their union – the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund Committee (SILWFC) implemented.

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The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) was surprised to learn from the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (Guysuco) on December 03, 2009 that it would be unable to pay the usual weekly wages on December 04, 2009 because of a temporary cash flow shortfall.

Some 16,000 workers would, therefore, be greatly inconvenienced in meeting their weekly expenses, resulting from this most unfortunate development for the first time in the history of the industry. Read the rest of this entry »

The sixteenth (16th) Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Cooperative Credit Union Society Limited Reg# 2000 will be convened on 6th December, 2009 at Umana Yana, Kingston, Georgetown at 09:00h.

Close to 400 members are expected to attend the meeting many of whom are drawn from Guysuco’s eight sugar estates and other entities at which the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) enjoys bargaining rights. In attendance will also be Credit Union members who are not unionized. Read the rest of this entry »

The heartwarming historical tale of Hajar’s courage and determination as a mother alone with her son Ismail in a desert, is one origin of Eid-ul-Azha festival.

Then there is the devout obedience to God by Ibrahim who was willing to make the supreme and ultimate sacrifice of his well-loved son Ismail.

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Sugar workers attached to Rose Hall Estate took strike action crippling field and factory operations at the Estate since yesterday (November 22, 2009).

The almost 3,000 person workforce were aghast when Rose Hall Estate late last Saturday morning (November 21, 2009) withdrew a day’s pay earned by the workers for having produced sugar equivalent to or over the week’s Weekly Production Incentive (WPI) target of 1,350 tonnes.

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