Sixteen months after taking office, the APNU+AFC government is being accused by a united labour movement of breaching established practices in relation to four major trade unions including the GPSU which is presently in a deadlock with the administration over public service pay.
Unions from both the main TUC and its historic rival, FITUG met yesterday to discuss what it said was a “threat to Labour’s existence” and are now seeking a meeting with President David Granger to avoid “dire consequences”.
The meeting included the main sugar union GAWU and key affiliates of the TUC which have in the past not acted in concert because of decades-old divisions about representation in the labour movement. This year there was a joint May Day rally for the first time in decades signalling a rapprochement between the two sides.
A release from the TUC follows:
Members of the Trade Unions across the divide met today-Thursday 22nd September- in the face of threat to Labour’s existence to determine and charter a course forward. This meeting was held at the Guyana Trades Union Congress to raise, discuss, and deliberate on a number of issues relating the workers’ well-being and Labour’s role in representing their interests, in the workplace and wider society.
It is not lost on the Trade Union Community that the state of affairs between employers, including Government, is one that poses a threat to a harmonious industrial relations climate, production, productivity, and the nation’s overall growth and development.
The trade unions are mindful that whereas the Guyana Constitution allows for our role as a major stakeholder in impacting decision-making and working in pursuit of development in society our input at the decision-making table (workplace and governmental level) is not being allowed or ignored.
Where the Trade Union Recognition Act (Cap 98:07) Section 23 (1) requires of employers to treat with the recognised trade union and engage in good faith negotiation, in many instances this law is being observed in the breach. Unions presently affected are:
– The Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) as in the case of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) where since 2009 the employer refuses to treat with the union;
– The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) – the Ministry of Education abandoning Negotiation and imposed wages/salaries increases;
– The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) as the treatment being meted out in the present scenario where the Good Faith principle that guides Collective Bargaining is not being upheld;
– The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), Guyana Labour Union (GLU) that represent workers in the sugar industry. Decisions are being made on the state of sugar and the welfare of the workers in the absence of input from the recognised unions.
We are mindful if these violations and transgressions are not addressed soonest they can become widespread with dire consequences. As such the unions will be dispatching a letter to President David Granger seeking engagement to correct these anomalies in the system.
The Unions are mindful of and shall be guided by the following constitutional duty, rights and responsibilities:
– Article 38- ‘National co-operation for development of economy’ which specifies the “duty of the ….trade unions… and the people through sustained and disciplined endeavours to achieve the highest possible levels of production and productivity and to develop the economy in order to ensure the realisation of the rights set out in this Chapter”
– Article 147- ‘Protection of freedom of assembly, association’ protect “the right to …be a member of …a trade union…. This article includes provision for the freedom to strike, to demonstrate peacefully and for trade unions and employers to enter into collective bargaining agreements.”
– Article 149C- ‘Right to participate in decision-making processes of the State’ requires the participation the “…trade unions…in the management and decision-making processes of the State.”
With the exception of the Guyana Labour Union and the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union, all the unions attended the meeting.
Signed….
Lincoln Lewis
Guyana Trades Union Congress
Vincent Bowman
National Union of Public Service Employees
Harold Shepherd
Guyana Postal & Telecommunication Workers Union
Sherwood Clarke
Clerical and Commercial Workers Union
Norris Witter
General Workers Union
Mark Lyte
Guyana Teachers Union
Leroy Levans
Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers
Onika Bizzeth
Guyana Local Government Officers Union
Vanessa Phillips
Printing Industry and Allied Workers Union
Komal Chand
Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union
Dawchan Nagasan
National Association of Agricultural, Commercial & Industrial Employees
Mortimer Livan
Guyana Public Service Union
Eon Andrews
United Minibus Union
Herman Williams
People’s United & General Workers Union
Godfrey Adams
Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union
