Weir: Sugar workers to be back at work by mid-January with increased pay 

In a matter of weeks, the 300-plus severed Barbados Agricultural Management Company Co. Ltd (BAMC) workers will be rehired under two new co-operative-owned firms and are slated to get increased wages, Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir said Tuesday.

At the same time, the Barbados Co-operative & Credit Union League Limited (BCCULL) is in full support of the employee ownership model set out by the new companies taking over the BAMC operations.

Weir announced details of the rehiring process in a statement to the Voice of Barbados radio call-in programme Down To Brass Tacks.

Weir said that the labour force must be in place before the start of this year’s sugarcane harvest and the rehiring process would start soon.

“They must be back by the middle of this month,” he said. “We have a sugar crop to deliver which usually starts around mid or the end of February or early March so they must be back by the middle of January . . . and they are returning to work with increased pay, shares and ownership.

“No other administration in Barbados’ entire existence has ever done this for the workers of the sugar industry . . . . The history of the sugar industry is such that all black Barbadians have contributed to the industry only for small wages. Today, we are in a position where they are given above minimum wage and ownership in an entity that will be using renewable energy as a guaranteed source of profit.”

On December 18, scores of BAMC’s sugar factory and field workers received their walking papers as the government completed its divestment process with the Barbados Sustainable Energy Co-operative Society Limited (Co-op Energy). Co-op Energy has registered two firms to replace the BAMC- the Agricultural Business Company Ltd. (ABC) and Barbados Energy and Sugar Company Inc. (BESC).

Back then, the minister promised to reveal more information on the privatisation process in a press conference, which to date has not been held.

A check with workers to find out if they received formal notice about the rehiring process indicated otherwise.

“We have not received any communication on the rehiring process as yet,” one worker said.

Part of the Co-op Energy’s takeover involves an employee ownership model and under that plan, the co-op would have 55 per cent ownership, with the other 45 per cent going to past and present sugar workers.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, the president of the BCCULL, Kemar Cumberbatch, made clear that the league was not the driving force behind Co-op Energy’s takeover of the BAMC operations but was pleased to support any initiative that would enfranchise its members and affiliates.

Although he said that he could not speak to what Co-op Energy has done since the ABC and BESC came into force and what it intends to do during the transition or any impasse, he said he endorsed the employee ownership model.

“This move will enfranchise the cooperative’s members and we are happy to support any initiative that will support our membership and will enfranchise the average Barbadian,” Cumberbatch said.

“This is a good initiative because it would enfranchise ordinary Barbadians who would have a say in what is being done nationally in a major way. And the way in which [the takeover] is being done is that they are looking to transition from just producing sugar to more renewable energy.

“The government has set a target of achieving 100 per cent renewable energy and carbon neutrality by 2023. Therefore, if the average Barbadian has a stake in this and we are transforming this part of the economy from sugar to a more green energy sector, that is a positive thing and it has the potential to be revenue generating for them. It will benefit all of our members,” he added.

As it relates to the entire co-operative movement, individual credit unions must decide whether or not the prospects were attractive enough for them to invest in the sugar industry’s transformation into a renewable energy-driven sector, Cumberbatch pointed out.

During his statement, Weir also sought to clear the air on the severance process following several complaints by former sugar workers who reported in the media that they did not receive any money since the BAMC cut ties with them, which resulted in them not being able to buy food or gifts for Christmas.

Weir explained that the workers are to receive their severance pay from the National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS) and notice pay and vacation pay were sent off from the BAMC to the financial institutions through which workers are paid, before Christmas.

“We have no control over the fact that credit unions made those payments later than commercial banks but the BAMC was responsible in making sure that those workers received their payments before Christmas,” the agriculture minister insisted.

“We cannot control how soon a credit union can upload payments. We did give the workers notice – we had to do so in order for them to meet the timelines of national insurance and that was done.

“I want to make it abundantly clear to all Barbadians that severance pay is different from payments in lieu of notice and holiday pay . . . . This is a case where you have people who have been working in an industry for many decades who have not benefited from the returns of the industry. What we have done for these workers is to make sure, first of all, that they receive their pay for a holiday as they normally do in December – payment in lieu of notice – because they transition into a new company and, equally, have also triggered the process for them to be able to get their severance through the NISSS. For anybody to come and mislead the public and seek to make the public believe that these people couldn’t buy ham and those types of things is extremely disingenuous.”

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb