General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) Lincoln Lewis has accused his Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU) counterpart Grantley Culbard of undermining the leadership of the GTUC.
Lewis was responding to an article carried in this newspaper based on a statement issued by the CCWU late December last. In that statement CCWU reported on its challenges and successes for 2006 and alluded to its disappointment with the government’s proposed 5% increase for workers.
It also said it was disheartened that the trade union movement, “due to the posturing of the leadership of the GTUC was not progressing as it should”.
CCWU also mentioned the resuscitated Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) which it said “brought together two major unions which left the GTUC and two others [which] remain attached to the GTUC but disenchanted with the body.”
Lewis, who contacted this newspaper after the article appeared on January 8, said he was not aware of the intent of the CCWU statement but would respond to its comment regarding the “posturing of leadership”. Lewis said Culbard sat on the executive council of the GTUC in 2004 where a decision was made to send the then principal assistant secretary and now president, Andrew Garnett to an International Labour Organisation Conference (ILO). He charged that Culbard went behind the movement’s back and colluded with government and was able to go to the ILO Conference in 2004. Garnett was unable to attend since Culbard took his place.
“Culbard was also part of a committee that was set up to negotiate with the three unions; the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Com-mercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), to influence them to come back and join the congress and for more than five years never produced a report
