“Ugly features” of Guyanese society like corruption and crime restrain economic growth, President of the Guyana Agricultural & General Workers Union, (GAWU) Komal Chand said yesterday even as he lamented the troubles faced by sections of the labour force and trade unions last year.
While praising the work done by the administration since 1993, Chand said that even though strides have been made which have resulted in the improvement of the standard of living for workers, one cannot ignore “those ugly features of our society which would not go away despite strenuous efforts.”
“Here, we must draw attention to the troubling issue of crime, violence against women, prevalence of illicit drugs and its use and the gun violence it breeds, the perception of widespread corruption, among others. These negative features tend to overshadow the country’s gains and, at the same time, act as restraints to further economic growth,” Chand said as he addressed a Labour Day rally at the National Park.
Like past years, division marked the labour movement as major unions held separate rallies following a march through the city and while there was much talk of unity, the feet trod separate paths. Workers belonging to the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) congregated at the National Park while the unions under the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) rallied in the compound of the Critchlow Labour College. The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) chose not to join either of the umbrella bodies and participants gathered at the union’s Woolford Avenue headquarters.
Chand was the only one out of four speakers at the somewhat poorly attended FITUG rally, who spoke on current issues faced by workers and he touched not only on the troubles faced by sugar and bauxite workers but on elections as well. Workers seemed disinterested.
Chand called out President Bharrat Jagdeo, who delivered the feature address at the rally, on some of the issues but if he had hoped that the Head of State would have responded during his speech as he has done in the past at other forums, he would have been disappointed. Jagdeo arrived late and missed Chand’s speech and while he was given a copy, the President did not mention any of the issues raised by the GAWU leader, who in recent times has had a strained relationship with some in the administration.
Last year had not gone well for labour and trade unionism as two of the country’s productive industries had to contend with measures which could be “deemed anti-labour and against established trade union practices,” Chand said. These measures, he said, were taken at the recently re-privatized and foreign-owned bauxite companies and at state-owned industries, but were not limited to them.
The GAWU leader said that in recent times several contentions arose in the sugar industry which “badly muddied the industrial relations within the industry”. He recalled the recent threat by the GuySuCo to de-recognise the union saying it was not pursued thanks to President Jagdeo. The union is puzzled that nothing is being done to expose and strongly discipline the culprit(s) who are guilty of the attempt, which, he said, would have amounted to sabotage of the industry.
“This we find to be very interesting and inaction may tell its own tale. The GAWU wants to believe that the present administration will not condone that threat. Thus, in a situation of inaction by GuySuCo, the GAWU is suggesting that the President considers intervening in this matter,” the union president said.
In calling for unity among the unions, Chand said it is time that genuine leaders of the labour force work together to defend the gains made and strive to improve the welfare of all workers to secure a better Guyana. Speaking on Russian company, RUSAL’s move to derecognise the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU), he said that it was GAWU and FITUG who were among the first to protest that action. There should be no argument that the union was not derecognized, he said.
“Let’s not deal with semantics and let’s be realistic. We take the opportunity, at this forum, to call on the relevant parties to ensure that the status of the Union is reinstated and thereafter deal with the perceived breaches through the adherence of the relevant procedure,” Chand added.
He also recalled GAWU’s pronouncement a few years ago that the Government’s subvention to the Critchlow Labour College be restored on the condition that there is a properly constituted board which is run democratically and there is transparency and accountability in the college’s finances.
The union leader also made a pitch for the sugar workers to get the 5% hike they received last year added to their rate-of-pay from January of this year. He said that employees in the private sector and the rest of the public sector received theirs and as such it could be concluded that the sugar workers have been treated in a discriminatory manner. However, he mentioned that at an April 21st meeting with GuySuCo, the negotiating team assured that the new rate would be implemented no later than June 30 this year.
Chand also urged the working class to play a “vigorous role” in ensuring that upcoming elections are free and fair and that democracy is not undermined. Workers, he said, must also play a role in ensuring that the campaigns and the elections are conducted in a conflict-free atmosphere and issues are discussed “in a democratic way, even if spiritedly.” He said that the working people and their eligible families along with pensioners will comprise 80% of the voting population.
“The upcoming elections, therefore, presents an opportunity not only for workers to vote for the party of their choice but for the working people to call on the contesting parties to outline and articulate positions and policies that address their general interests and concerns. Such expectations should be based not simply on their voting numbers, important as that is, but moreso, on the knowledge that the working people constitute the power that drives the engine of growth that makes plans, small and grand, into realities,” Chand said.
Economic recession
Jagdeo tackled the economic recession. He instructed workers to watch the BBC and those with computers to Google “economic recession” and “see what the results would show up what’s happening across the world.” In an unusually muted speech lasting less than 20 minutes, Jagdeo mostly stayed away from the campaign trail and politics, focusing on the economic crises facing the world and how much better Guyana has fared compared to other countries. He did talk about the progress the country has made under the PPP/C administration and confidently said that the progress will continue under the presidency of the party’s candidate, Donald Ramotar. Ramotar, who was appointed last week as an advisor to the President sat quietly at the head table.
Jagdeo spoke on what Guyana’s economy was like in years gone and how better it is today. He said that while his administration has made an effort to increase wages, there is still a long way to go and “you have never heard any PPP leader claim that we are where we want to be. But wages and salaries have to grow with our economy and our economy is growing and so our capacity to pay is increasing.”
However, the president pointed out that it is not always wages and salaries that make a difference in the country but rather people need a “whole range of other things to lead a productive, healthy life and to bring up their families.”
In this light, the Head of State said his administration has budgeted millions for education and referred to the recent launching of the education channel which he said will help every Guyanese child continue the learning process. The president also boasted about the One Laptop Per Family initiative under which 90,000 of the country’s poorest families are expected to receive a laptop computer. He called on the workers to apply noting the government has gone out to tender for the project and is awaiting the bids.
“…the poorest households will get a computer from this government… Do you know why?” Jagdeo asked the workers, none of whom answered. The president said it is “not because we want to give away free computers but we recognize that computers would be the tool of the future and if only rich people’s kids…have access to them what is going to happen in this country is that poor people’s children will always be left behind because they would not have access to a computer.”
The president also spoke on the Amaila Falls Hydro-power project saying that it would not only increase employment but reduce the cost for electricity. And he boasted, any Guyanese “with a clear conscience” will admit that more people own land and are building homes now. Jagdeo also mentioned the investments government has made in the health sectors through the building of new hospitals and the many young doctors being trained in Cuba.
He told the workers that even though this is his last year as president, he has no fear that what has started, will continue as he has known Ramotar for a number of years and he has came out of the “bowels” of the party and has also been part of workers’ struggle. “He has helped our party to retain these characteristics, poor working class characteristics unlike most of the other parties. He has helped us to retain those principles, principles that have helped us to engage workers…”Jagdeo said.
“So I have no fear that he would bring to the presidency those qualities and that he would continue to engage the workers as we continue to build our country,” he added.
The FITUG rally was held under the theme “Unite and struggle for workers rights and betterment” and some of the placards held by the marching workers called for ‘Better salary for sugar workers’, ‘Working people of the world unite’, ‘Diamond workers entitled to severance pay’, ‘Today’s minimum wage is outdated’ and ‘End US embargo on Cuba.’
Commenting on the unions’ division, Kenneth Joseph of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) praised the attempt by the GTU to bring the two factions together. He said the GTU succeeded in bringing FITUG and GTUC at the same table for the first time since the re-establishment of FITUG five years ago, but while there were discussions, it did not materialize in a unified front for the Labour Day celebrations.
None of the speakers, which also included President of FITUG, Carvil Duncan, managed to rouse any real reaction from the workers, who seemed more interested in the merriment of the day. Local comedian Henry Rodney was the only person with a microphone who managed to galvanise interest with his jokes.
