We of the GAWU, at this time, take this opportunity to warmly welcome you, once more, to our dear country, widely referred to as the Land of Many Waters. Though your stay would be brief it is our sincere wish that you find your short stay enjoyable and fruitful.
Your meeting, we are aware, will discuss several matters and consider several issues that bear heavily on the working-people of the Caribbean in these contemporary times. Those weighty issues we are sure require in depth discussion and considerable consideration as you take stock of the challenges and difficulties that beset the Region’s workers. We are aware that the workers of the Caribbean are facing a testing period as several of their hard-won and cherished gains are under attack in the name of profits and super-profits.
For us in Guyana, the situation is no different and, in recent times, the working-people have come under significant pressure. For the Guyanese working-class the situation, at times, appears to be daunting as the workers and their families see their standard-of-living fall and now-a-days being made to fetch heavy burdens on their backs arising from the rising cost-of-living brought about by new and increased taxes, among several other measures which have served to worsen their lot. Today, our workers are asked to pay, for the first time in our post-independent history, taxes on essential commodities and services such as medicine, medical care, electricity, and water, among other things. In these circumstances, the workers backs are being slowly pressed against the wall and they are forced to curtail their consumption as they struggle to keep their heads above water.
Alongside those pressures, we recognise what appears to be a glancing respect towards the protections and rights offered to workers through our laws, their collective agreements and customs and practices, some of which have existed for decades and even longer. This sad situation has its origins, to some extent, in the unfortunate precedent being set by the State which seemingly has taken a hands-off approach in situations where workers’ rights are threatened and disregarded. For instance, not too long ago, a foreign private enterprise dismissed several workers following their participation in a protest action as they pressed their demands for pay rises. Though workers in Guyana are constitutionally allowed to strike and protected from dismissal for their participation in industrial action, the employer, unashamedly, chose to dismiss them. Even worse was the less than forthcoming role of the Department of Labour in what we felt was a clear cut matter.
At this point too, the GAWU cannot fail to point out that for the first time in over our half a century as an independent State the workers do not have a Ministry of Labour to turn to. What was once a Ministry has now been relegated to a mere department under the Social Protection Ministry. This is a matter which has attracted a great degree of condemnation by the Trade Union Movement especially when it is noted that a full-fledged Ministry of Business has been established. The sorry state-of-affairs, from the GAWU’s point-of-view, will have long-lasting repercussions for the workers of our country today and tomorrow as well. Moreover, the actions or rather seeming inaction can be seen as undoing the gains birthed from the struggles of our working-people.
The workers cherished tradition of Collective Bargaining also has not been spared. Workers looked forward to the Government’s electoral undertaking to honour the lawful obligation to Collective Bargaining. From all indications, this promise has been forgotten and in the last three (3) years the Government has unilaterally imposed pay rises for its employees in the public service. Those increases are far below the demands of the main recognized Union and pale in comparison to the substantial pay hikes the Cabinet approved for itself mere days after it took office.
For the workers in the sugar industry, the situation is even more disturbing and depressing. Though they are regarded as employees of the State, they have not benefitted from any rise in pay since 2014. And as bad as that may be, the despairing story didn’t end there as the state-owned sugar company has unilaterally withdrawn or significantly curtailed several benefits and incentives the workers enjoy. In this short but painful period, the sugar workers real incomes have fallen by six (6) per cent, up to June, 2017, added to that is an over fifteen (15) per cent decline in their nominal incomes between 2015 and 2016. While the sugar workers are asked to swallow this painful and bitter pill they see the sums going to their company’s top echelon jumping by as much as eighty (80) per cent between 2015 and 2016 alone.
The beleaguered sugar workers then faced another painful chapter as the Government, on the insistence of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo), decided to miniaturize the sugar industry through the closure of estates though a state-appointed Commission of Inquiry advised the Government not to go in that direction. In the last two (2) years, thousands of workers have been sent onto the breadline as the plans to contract the sugar industry unfolded. The situation has prompted a national outcry as three (3) estates were closed at the end of 2017 and 4,000 workers were sent into the burgeoning army of the unemployed in the middle of the Yuletide Season. The situation then took a frightening turn as two (2) workers, seemingly could not bear the pressures of being unemployed, unfortunately took their lives.
Today as those workers, their families and their communities face an uncertain future; the Government announced last week that it hadn’t sufficient funds to offset the redundancy allowances payable to the workers. Previously, the Government had said that the monies were available and the payment would be made at the end of January, this year. Now the workers are told they will receive half by month-end and the remainder during the second-half of 2018. This arrangement is contrary to what is stipulated in our laws and our Union, at this time, is examining our options to ensure that the workers’ rights are respected.
The workers who are the victims of the largest retrenchment exercise in decades remain clueless as to the plans of the Government to assist them to become gainfully employed. At Wales Estate, which was closed at the end of 2016, the plans the Government announced for the workers to secure employment remain far from reality but instead suffering and misery are reaching untold proportions. Certainly, as night follows day, the situation we believe will be repeated at the three (3) estates which were closed in 2017.
We need to emphasize that the workers faced with daunting challenges, did not give up hope. They stood up and defended militantly their jobs, their families and their communities. They demonstrated an indomitable will to succeed and to call attention to and overcome their plight. Their laudable actions to counter the deathly hands of their State on their jobs and livelihood found sincere sympathy among a wide section of Guyanese and also from several overseas organisations like the IUF and its affiliates. Their sustained struggles brought several allies who spoke and are speaking up in their defence. This is a monumental achievement and one that the workers appreciate and take great pride and solace in.
Today, the workers have recognized an abiding lesson of working-class history, that is in authoritarian, class divided societies, the elites holding the reins of power, never or hardly ever ensure justice for the working-class. Thus, the struggle for real, pro-working people change must continue. We take heart that time is the greatest judge. We are sure it will endorse the justness of our struggles and, moreover, correct the injustices of today. We contend that history and future generations of Guyanese will condemn harshly those who advanced, approved and implemented the plans which affected so many ordinary people. The times, though difficult and distressing, cannot daunt the workers but impel them for more determined activities. The GAWU has pledged itself to continue to represent the workers’ cause, to bring greater attention to the workers plight and to press on to win effective support and solidarity for their case. In these struggles ahead here and elsewhere in our region, indeed worldwide, we are confident that the IUF will continue to play a guiding role and be a centre to organize and coordinate solidarity manifestations as conditions dictate.
To our IUF comrades present here, please be assured of our continuous support as we, together, face the challenges of the day.
With our unity, struggles and solidarity, let us forge on to a new day for the working-peoples worldwide.
