Sugar workers from four estates have staged protests demanding that the Guyana Sugar Corporation remit savings deducted from their wages, a credit union said, warning that the outstanding payments were causing financial hardship and a severe liquidity shortage.
The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Cooperative Credit Union Society Ltd said its members held peaceful pickets on Monday over deductions it said GuySuCo had been making from workers’ weekly wages since March without transferring the money to the credit union.
The credit union said GuySuCo had repeatedly promised to settle the outstanding payments, including a written commitment on August 27 to pay half the amount owed. It said none of that promised payment had been received.
The statement did not specify the total outstanding amount or identify the four estates. GuySuCo has not responded to the protest.
The credit union accused the corporation of using workers’ savings to cover operational shortfalls. That allegation could not be be immediately verified.
It said the failure to transfer the deductions had left workers unable to access savings needed for school fees, medical bills and household expenses, while threatening its capacity to provide financial support to thousands of workers and their families.
“These funds do not belong to the Corporation; they represent the hard-earned savings of workers,” the credit union said.
It called on GuySuCo’s management and board to release the money immediately and urged the agriculture minister and the government to intervene.
Source: NEW ROOMS SITE
