Dear Editor,
I write out of anger, frustration, and a profound sense of betrayal at the hands of the Government of Guyana, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Senior Management of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
In August 2025, GuySuCo employees were formally informed of salary increases in line with the agreed implementation of the $100,000 minimum wage. These increases were reflected in salaries from September 2025. To further cement this commitment, employees were issued signed documentation outlining their annual salaries for a three-year period. Staff acted in good faith, budgeting their lives, supporting their families, and meeting financial obligations based on these written assurances.
Then came 2 February 2026.
Employees received their January salaries late (paid on Feb 2,2026) and without the previously implemented increases. There was no warning, no consultation, no explanation. Worse still, staff were told that the President allegedly stated, “we already got the votes, take back the increase.” If this is indeed the thinking at the highest level of government, then it represents a shocking abuse of power and a disgraceful contempt for working people.
To this day, the Head of Human Resources has failed to formally explain why salaries were paid late or why lawful, agreed, and documented increases were removed. Employees were left to deal with late fees on loans, mortgages, and other financial commitments, while management looked on in silence. Queries are ignored. Explanations are withheld.
The Chief Executive Officer appears entirely indifferent to the hardship being imposed on employees. He routinely lectures workers on sacrifice, commitment, and “putting shoulders to the wheel,” yet has no difficulty presiding over broken promises and financial harm to staff. Perhaps this indifference is easier when one’s own financial security is insulated from the realities faced by ordinary workers.
Let us be clear: this is not merely poor management , it is exploitation. It is dishonesty. It is political arrogance masquerading as governance.
One must ask the Minister of Agriculture: would he tolerate this treatment if it were his own children being paid late, paid less than agreed, and given no explanation? Or is this indignity reserved only for sugar workers once votes are secured?
This government has shown itself to be uncaring, unaccountable, and dismissive of the very people who keep the sugar industry alive. GuySuCo workers deserve better than deception, silence, and threats. They deserve respect, transparency, and the salaries they were promised in writing.
yours respectfully,
Emily Joseph
