Bad planning blamed for sugar workers' plight

A social impact assessment ordered by the Planning Institute of Jamaica found the previous People's National Party government guilty of failing to properly inform or consult with sugar cane workers about the looming reforms that would change the face of the industry.

The executive summary of the 111-page document, the contents of which have been kept out of the public domain since its completion in April 2006, says the Government of the day left workers out of the loop.

"For the most part, workers were not properly consulted prior to the announced reform of the sugar industry; they were not properly briefed on the full suite of reforms and their implication for the industry," read a section of the document.

Bad timing
Without exception, the focus-group participants from five sugar-dependent communities said the timing of the prime minister's announcement left a bitter taste in the mouth of sugar workers.

"Many respondents expressed resentment about how the announcement was made by the prime minister and the lack of communication with the workers."

As a result, the study stated, most workers had a lopsided and incorrect view of what was about to happen to the industry, and, by extension, their livelihood. A majority of the workers viewed the sugar reforms as revolving around the closure of the Long Pond and Bernard Lodge factories.

The report also pointed out that some industry players lamented not being adequately informed about the looming reform options and its consequences.

"Some industry stakeholders, including one union, complained that they were also not properly consulted prior to the announced reforms to the sugar industry."

Caught in no-man's-land
One trade union representative said his administration was caught in no-man's-land when they heard about the extent of the reforms.

On the other hand, other key stakeholders said not only were they consulted about the proposed reforms, but many were intimately involved in the process of drafting them.

The study, titled 'Social Impact Assessment of the Likely Effects of Sugar Reform Options on Industry Workers in Jamaica', concluded that Government's failure to appropriately forewarn the workers was compounded by a broken relationship between workers and management.

"Management is seen as the enemy by workers, who accuse them of employing a non-participatory style of leadership, in addition to being corrupt, wasteful and uncaring," the report read.

While most workers remained optimistic that the factories would remain open under new management, the report said this optimism was seemingly "fuelled by mainly wishful thinking, blind faith, a few newspaper articles, hearsay and an inability to conceptualise a life without sugar".

The study explicitly states that workers blamed management for the failure of the sugar industry. It also made a number of recommendations, not least among them the need for proper communication. "Such recommendations could be seen as a means of effecting significant change in these already poor, marginal communities, rather than simply 'outing the fires'," it said.

The study continued: "The recommendations point to the need for good communication, diagnostic action, retraining, support for alternative livelihoods and the provision of social services."

Some key recommendations:
Establish an education campaign to provide sugar workers with concise information on the sugar reform process, including the likely redundancy package for any qualified displaced worker;

Undertake a comprehensive survey to obtain the existing skill profile in the affected communities, in addition to a training-needs assessment, in order to design training programmes that would provide relevant skills to the communities;

Provide information about alternative sources of employment, incentives and relevant credit access and advice that would encourage the start-up of micro, small and medium-size businesses;

Ensure that there are relevant and adequate social services and support systems in health, education, counselling and nutrition to assist the most vulnerable persons in the communities;

The projected cost of implementing these recommendations was $629 million at the time.

'... Government's failure to appropriately forewarn the workers was compounded by a broken relationship between workers and management.'