Dear Editor,
“500 (High-paying) Oilfield service jobs for Enmore and environs” this is the positive headline I envisaged when I heard of the Guysons plan for the old packing plant, sadly, there was no such headline and instead this ultra-positive for the people of the area has come in from criticism and questioning from not only the usual nattering nabobs of nihilism but importantly from the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) who would rather preserve the 30 sugar packing jobs than see those (and 470 others) transition to the lucre of oilfield services.
GAWU seems to have lost its way and its mandate to represent people and not union dues (they are among the unions seeking to represent oil & gas industry workers) GAWU needs to modernize its thinking and accept that people from Enmore can do more than cut cane, load punts and pay GAWU dues. Nobody likes the crab at the bottom of the barrel, GAWU can get onboard the prosperity train or get off the tracks before it gets run over, but the thousands of new oilfield services workers.
Sincerely,
Robin Singh
