‘Miscommunication’ led to Blairmont sugar workers’ strike, issue resolved – Agri. Minister

A day after sugar workers at the Blairmont Sugar Estate, West Coast Berbice, staged a strike, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said that the strike was a result of miscommunication.

He told the News Room that the estate’s management was attempting to get workers to meet a certain standard at the estate.

“It was a miscommunication and I think they didn’t understand what management wanted. What management wanted was for them to detrash [to remove the leaves and tops from sugarcane stalks], so they can separate the trash from the cane so when it goes to the factory there will not have trash going in to crush with the sugar,” Mustapha explained.

On Wednesday, the estate was back in operation Mustapha revealed.

“When management went at the back and explained to the workers, they were satisfied and they gone back to work this morning,” Mustapha said.

According to a source at the estate, the workers initiated the strike due to poor working conditions, weekly targets, and other issues.

On Tuesday, the management of Blairmont Estate, held a meeting with the Guyana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) representatives following the strike by the estate’s entire cane harvesting team.