Dear Editor,
Note is taken of Freddie Kissoon’s column, “Be true to your thoughts, you will be what you want to be” 19th October, 2014. In this article it is stated, “Lincoln Lewis explained an incident in 1968 between the bauxite union and the government in Mackenzie. He described the betrayal of the workers and mistreatment of the union by a government that was supposed to be on the side of workers, workers who helped that government to power. Lincoln said people who you think would be better in the use of power many times turn out to be worse.”
Let me put this issue in context as discussed with Freddie. In 1969 Reynolds Bauxite Company dismissed all the non-management workers at Kwakwani after they proceeded on strike. The Central Executive of the Guyana Mines Workers Union (GMWU), refused to include the leaders of the branches in their union’s delegation to meet with the company, under the chairmanship of then Minister of Labour, Winslow Carrington. At the conclusion of the agreement between the company and union, Carrington together with the first vice-president and the principal assistant secretary of the union flew to Kwakwani, to order a resumption of work. The leaders of the branches that initiated and
supported the strike were excluded from the meeting.
A meeting was summoned by the union’s central executive at the Workers’ Club in Kwakwani with Carrington present, with the intention of ordering resumption. A member of the union, Esau Sauers, entered the club and said to the minister and union representatives, “You didn’t call me on strike and you cannot tell me to return. We will await the arrival of our leaders, they will tell us when to return.” At approximately 8:30 p.m. that day a land rover brought the branch leaders from MacKenzie. The land rover drove around the Park, blowing its horn, signalling that the branch leaders had arrived.
The residents, men and women in their nightclothes, converged at the Workers’ Club. They were addressed by the branch leaders. This address chronicled the behaviour of the union’s central executive, the Minister of Labour and the management of Reynolds. A decision was taken that whatever was negotiated by the central executive must be discussed and approved by the local representatives, inclusive of the shop stewards from every department. That engagement took place the very night. The branch leaders returned to the membership and advised that in as much as the Terms of Resumption did not address every issue the workers would like, the unity of the trade union is paramount, and they were prepared to engage the national leadership of the GMWU on the way they managed the entire affair.
Within days the president and secretary of the industrial branch at Kwakwani were expelled by the central executive. The president and secretary of the clerical and technical branch were given warning letters by the said executive. Within the period of three weeks at a General Council meeting of the union in Linden, the decisions to expel and warn the officers were overturned. Within a fortnight after that decision Forbes Burnham, then Prime Minister, called the president of the industrial branch, informing him of his planned visit to Kwakwani and requested he be taken on a meet-the-people visit. On deplaning at the Kwakwani airport, the Plant manager and the industrial branch president, Stephen Lewis, stood there to greet Burnham. He shook the hand of the branch president first, then the plant manager.
Burnham asked, “What is the programme?” The Plant manager said, “We are going to the Staff Club on the hill.” Burnham responded, “Stephen shall decide the programme.” Stephen responded, “We shall visit the people in the Park.” Burnham walked through every street in the Park, spoke with residents, met with leaders of organisations and groups and then summoned them at a community meeting at the Club and made some specific pronouncements.
Among them were:-
1) there shall be an immediate abolition of permits from the company for anyone to visit Kwakwani, since this is Guyana and Guyanese must be free to visit wherever they want;
2) there shall be an immediate end to all special shopping days at the commissary and anyone must be allowed as long as the commissary is opened;
3) immediately, any person, resident or visitor at Kwakwani, who requires medical service, the Kwakwani hospital shall provide it;
4) the company must improve the garbage collection for residents of the community.
These were important and major announcements made to the residents. This was the first salvo by Burnham that broke down the class barriers in the bauxite community. This conversation was shared with Freddie.
He was also told of the “10 to 1 budget strike” in 1989, how it started and ended, and Desmond Hoyte appearing on the scene to mend fences. The conversation with Freddie and I centred around a misunderstanding by the current political leadership of the militancy in the bauxite communities. The 1989 struggle was the most bruising after the RILA strike of 1971 but Hoyte quickly found a way to engage all the operatives and rebuild relationships with the trade union and community leaders.
Our conversation was discussed within the context of what transpired in Linden on Friday 10th October when the Leader of the PNCR, David Granger was picketed. I said to Freddie who sought to express his concern about the event and how it can negatively affect a victory for the opposition, that the leader has a greater responsibility to mend fences. It simply means, being responsive to the party members’ calls and engaging them on issues of concerns.
Burnham did it in 1969 at Kwakwani. Hoyte did it in 1989 in Linden and the bauxite community. In 2014 leaders in Georgetown cannot sit and conclude that the people of Linden are disruptive and deserving of marginalization without first understanding that they have rights and the culture of that community. Burnham had repeatedly said “Linden is the cradle of the revolution.” There is a revolution taking place in Linden, one that has indicated that the people are not prepared to accept the notion of maximum leader imposing his will and decisions, without their involvement and approval. This was not the relationship Burnham and Hoyte established with them and it is would be difficult for them to give up a right that was always respected in the past.
Since Sharma Solomon became Regional Chairman he has been standing on a platform where he speaks about constitutional rights and respecting the laws. He has the people behind him on this and it makes it difficult for anyone to turn back the course of action. The national leaders are not reading the tea leaves. It was a PNC government that led the promulgation of the current Constitution. This Constitution speaks about regionalism and local democratic organs. Yet at the same time some leaders are not prepared to respect the spirit and intent of that system as enshrined in the Constitution.
The PNCR is a political party and politics is about people and people’s development. It is the members who own the party and not the leaders. It is the members who will determine the philosophy and programme of the party.
In discussions with Freddie, he was told this much.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis
