The Guyana Local Government Officers Union yesterday expressed solidarity with fellow trade unionist and General Secretary of the Caribbean Congress of Labour Lincoln Lewis and condemned “those who foster an environment of fear and easy criminality”.
While acknowledging that Lewis can represent his cause, the trades union called on all law-abiding forces in the society, the government and the police to guarantee his protection and constitutional rights.
Lewis was forced to flee his Cummings Lodge residence on Sunday night after three unknown men tried to break in. He said the men tried to follow him using a white car but he has not reported the matter to the police, saying he did not know whom to trust. Lewis said he believed the incident was the result of his tireless activism on a range of issues, including the recent killing of the country’s two most wanted men by the security forces. He had held a press conference on this matter two days earlier. Despite the episode, he said, he remains undaunted and would continue to speak out.
In the meantime, workers comprising the Amalgamated Transport & General Workers Union called on the government to ensure that the rights of Lewis which are enshrined in the constitution of Guyana are protected. The union said further that the voice of Lewis at a time when fear permeates the society “is a clarion call for people to know their rights and to zealously guard them.”
And the University of Guyana Workers Union said that it has joined in solidarity with Lewis “for his struggles are just and his voice fair.” The union also called on the government and state security forces to ensure that “no harm befalls veteran trades unionist and rights advocate Lincoln Lewis who is the most recent target of anti-democratic and terrorist forces in our society.” The UGWU added that any threat to his life is a threat to all trades unionists and will not be tolerated.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Public Service Employees declared that freedom of expression was under serious threat as first it was the media and now it is trade unionists. The union said that Lewis is no ordinary trade unionist as his struggles for workers rights have spanned all post-independent (governments) and his voice is a voice clamoring for justice, which is not a privilege granted by any government… but a human right.
In addition, the Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union in a press release yesterday also stated that the union stood in solidarity with Lewis “who for as long as we know him has been outspoken and not afraid to stand up for the people and causes he believes in.”
The GB&GWU said it is putting the government on notice that it will not accept the violations against Lewis and further it holds the current PPP administration accountable for creating the environment where voice, life and freedom can no longer be guaranteed.
In relating the ordeal, Lewis had said that the men parked their car in front of his house and on one occasion, they knocked on his door “like normal visitors.” He said two of them were wearing caps while the third was wearing a flop hat. They first attempted to force their way into the house just about 10 pm and failing to do so they left. Lewis then turned off the lights in the building. The men, however, returned to the building some time afterward and again attempted to gain entry. Lewis said the men tried to enter the two-storey house through the back and front doors and his bedroom window.
It was at this point that he felt he had to escape the building.
Afraid that the men would open fire on the building after their failed attempts at entry, he left the house on foot and ran all the way to the back of the village.
He said the men followed him in a white car, but he was rescued by a minibus driver who took him to the car park in front of Demico House, at Stabroek.
