By: Andrew Carmichael
Scores of cane harvesters attached to the Albion Sugar Estate this morning downed their tools and staged a protest exercise over what they claimed are the poor working conditions in the fields.
Moreover, the workers are raising concerns over the recorded weight of the cane on the scales, contending that the figures are considerably lower than what they know they had harvested.
The workers staged their protest Adelphi, East Canje, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
These workers are formerly of the Rosehall Sugar Estate but were not severed when that Estate was closed; instead they were transferred to the Albion Estate.
They are crying discrimination, contending that none of the other gangs have to work under the conditions which they are forced to endure.
They also claim that they are being sent to the worst fields to harvest sugar cane. Additionally, they argue that due to the low weight of the cane recorded, many of them take home measly wages. But the workers are contending that the weight recorded do not reflect the amount of cane they had harvested.
Meanwhile, the fields the harvesters say has thick overgrowth. In the past arrangements were in place which would see harvesters being paid at a premium price when there were obstacles in the cane field; these would include vines and other forms of vegetation.
