Local News

Demerara Gold Packaging Plant workers on strike for better pay

04 February 2025
This content originally appeared on INews Guyana.
Promote your business with NAN

Workers attached to the packaging facility at the Blairmont Sugar Estate, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), which packages Demerara Gold, are on strike for better pay.

The workers are being paid below the minimum wage.

The workers, sixteen women –most of them single parents – downed tools on Sunday and continued their strike action on Monday, demanding a wage increase.

The workers told this publication that they are paid at a rate of $330 per hour.

The national minimum wage order stipulates a payment of $347 per hour or $2,776 per day.

Those workers say they are receiving $2,640 per day.

Tarniece Blair told this publication that she worked at the plant for nine years, left the job and returned in October last.

“When I came back it is the same thing. My NIS [National Insurance Scheme] card came out since I started working here in 2012. The last time NIS was paid for me was in 2019.”

The woman showed this publication envelopes she said were pay slips.

“It has no date, no NIS… For one hour we are working for $330. Eight hours come up to $2640. If you work from Sunday to Saturday you get $21,140 and out of that they take out $1,367 out of your pay, say they are putting it to NIS; no money is in NIS.”

The packaging plant workers are employed by a private contractor, that was hired by GuySuCo to oversee the operations of the packaging plant.

Meanwhile, another worker, Mala Ghidharry, says many of the workers do not have NIS cards but deductions are being made from their wages weekly.

Those same sentiments were echoed by Rachel Naraine, another packaging plant employee.

“We are working for a little bit of money plus the NIS is cutting. I need our money to raise because we can’t keep working for $2,640.”

Recently, government workers were given salary increases of 10 percent but the packaging plant workers did not benefit. They were also not beneficiaries of the 2023 wage increases.

“There have been several complaints to the management of the private contractor and we are being pushed around,” Ghidharry disclosed to this publication.

Meanwhile, as the workers hold out that they would not return to work until the issue is resolved, they say they were reluctant to strike or take similar actions in the past because of threats by the estate management that they will be fired if they do.

They claim that one person was fired after raising their concerns during a meeting with estate management.

The packaging plant workers are not unionised.

However, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has shown some interest in the workers’ concern.

This publication understands that the issue has since been raised with the Ministry of Labour.