Historic sugar prices picket in city
-- protest could widen
By Chamanlall Naipaul
Guyana Chronicle
July 20, 2004
THE sugar corporation and the two unions in the industry linked in an historic picket demonstration in Georgetown yesterday to protest the devastating impact proposed changes in the European Union’s sugar prices could have on the sector and the country.
A leading trade unionist also announced that the protest could be widened to include opposition and other groups.
Top managers and workers formed a sizeable contingent from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO), the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Clerical Commercial and Industrial Employees (NACCIE) that protested for several hours outside the EU Croal Street offices.
Union and industry officials said this was the first time that GUYSUCO and the two unions staged a joint public protest.
Among those on the picket line were GUYSUCO Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Michael Boast and Industrial Relations Director, Mr. Jairam Pitam, and the Presidents of GAWU and NACCIE, Mr. Komal Chand and Mr. Kenneth Joseph, respectively.
Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Mr. Clement Rohee also joined the protest.
Some of the placards demonstrators carried read: `Without sugar all Guyana will suffer’; `EU must share burden of reform’; `EU sugar reform means insecurity’ and `Guyana united against EU proposal’.
Chand said the protest was to put pressure on the EU to reduce the harshness of the prices proposal.
Noting that Guyana exports about 167,000 tonnes of sugar annually, he lamented that the proposed cuts of 26% by 2005and 37% by 2007 would cause severe hardships for the industry, the national economy and the people because these would mean a reduction in both prices and quotas.
Pointing to the $16 billion GUYSUCO pays annually in wages and salaries, Chand said that if the EU proposal becomes a reality, the business community will be affected along with workers in the sector because of the reduced spending power of the employees, particularly during the out of crop period when there is not full employment.
In addition, Chand said GUYSUCO's community contributions in training and drainage would be adversely affected because of lower earnings.
He said this new development would not affect current negotiations for wages and salaries and working conditions in the industry, because the results would be effective for this year.
He added that GUYSUCO has offered a five per cent increase in wages and salaries which is being studied by his union, but at the same time it is trying to negotiate improvements in meal allowances and other working conditions to boost the income of sugar workers.
The union head indicated that the protest against the EU move could widen to include opposition political parties and others because of the national importance of the issue.
A joint committee of the stakeholders would be established shortly to examine such moves and plan other protest and lobbying actions, he said. One option under consideration is to intensify joint lobbying in the international arena, Chand said.
GAWU also has an ongoing education programme to explain the implications of the EU proposal to the rank and file workers in the industry, he said.
Boast maintained that the EU proposal was "really unacceptable" for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc which gets guaranteed preferential prices for sugar from the EU under the Cotonou accord.
He said the cuts being advocated by the EU are too drastic for countries such as Guyana to make the necessary adjustments.
He acknowledged that GUYSUCO and the government knew of the EU's intended price reforms and restructuring in advance but stressed that the understanding was that the reduction would have been a "slow, gradual process" in phases of about three to four per cent annually, to allow adjustments.
In Guyana's case, Boast said it would take about four to five years to reduce the current production cost of US18 cents per pound to the competitive US$12 cents per pound. But the EU proposal would now put tremendous pressure on GUYSUCO to implement the US$110M Skeldon modernisation project, he said.
"Cuts in sugar price are a betrayal," Boast stressed.
He pointed out that with the sugar industry employing 20,000 people directly and creating employment for another 50,000-60,000 indirectly, the EU proposal has severe economic and social implications for Guyana.
Rohee said negotiations between the ACP and the EU were "extremely difficult", reiterating that the ACP position reflects that of Guyana.
The joint picketing exercise was a positive step in mounting pressure on the EU, he said.
When the proposed cuts by the EU were announced by Agriculture Commissioner of the EU, Mr. Franz Fischler for consideration by the EU Commission, the Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC) vehemently condemned it.
It said the most unacceptable new element is the proposal to introduce a 20% price reduction in 2005, reaching 37% in 2007.
“This cuts across the reassuring guarantees given by EU Commissioners that any changes would be gradual and designed to avoid severe disruption to ACP economies”, the SAC argued last month.
The SAC also submitted that the proposals are blind to the terrible consequences of what was done to the banana industry in the Caribbean when reform proposals for the industry were adopted by the EU.
“The EU Commissioner actually suggests, without shame, introducing specific programmes similar to those introduced for bananas to help ACP countries with sugar industries adapt to new market conditions”, it said.
According to the SAC, the proposals contradict the EU’s continually reiterated commitment that international trading arrangements should reflect the needs of development and provide special and d ifferential treatment for small and vulnerable economies.
It contended that the proposals would seriously affect plans and programmes under way in ACP countries to restructure their sugar industries to make them more efficient and said these were plans that were actually encouraged by the EU.