Dear Editor,
On Thursday May 1, Guyanese will march and hold two rallies (TUC and FITUG) to commemorate the struggles of the working class. It also funds the labour unions a very divided group-one group standing on the side of the workers, the other on the side of the government.
In the middle of the workers’ struggles and government injustices, there sits Mr Robert Corbin. Mr Corbin holds the triple envious positions of Leader of the Opposition, PNC Leader and President General of the Guyana Labour Union (GLU).
With the portfolios held by Mr Corbin and particularly in light of the many anti-worker policies taken by the government it was expected that Mr Corbin would have leveraged his influence to get the government to make better decisions for the nation.
Sad to say, much credit cannot be accorded Mr. Corbin for playing a leading role in helping the working class. Workers continue to get the wrong end of the stick on wage increases, and can barely afford to meet their daily expenses.
It’s a fact Mr Corbin was unable to lead his union last May Day to the TUC Rally. There was this debacle when half of his union was led by his General Secretary, Mr Carvil Duncan, to the PPP supported and attended FITUG rally at NIS ground. At this rally Mr. Duncan attacked the TUC and pronounced its death. Some months later Mr Corbin left the TUC and led the GLU to FITUG.
This May Day it will be interesting to see if the Cde Leader will leave the suffering masses and continue his solidarity march with the government that has thus far denied children monies for education, TUC monies to function properly, reneged on the Collective Bargaining Agreement, threatened press freedom, high inflation, low wages, and high prices in the marketplaces.
Yours faithfully,
Albert Thompson
