The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) was disturbed to learn from social media about the assault of a Guyanese worker at the hands of reportedly a Russian national employed by Innovative Mining Inc. Our Union has seen the statement emanating from the Company which seeks to offer, in our view, a feeble defence of what clearly were intolerable actions by the official.
For the GAWU which draws a large number of members from the sugar industry, the scene jarred our memory back to the time of the plantocracy. It was a painful period where workers rights were ignored or wantonly trampled upon and workers were seen as means of production rather than living, breathing human beings. It was from the concerted struggle of the working-class and their allies that workers were able to put such wretched relations into the dustbin of history. Therefore, for us, to see such occurrences taking place in our modern time is upsetting and disturbing.
The assault brings into focus, for us, the credibility of foreign investors in our country. Though we are not averse to foreign investment, recognizing its role in advancing development, we hold that investors whether local or foreign must be respectful of our people and their rights. We live in a society that is governed by rules and laws and no one has a right to take the law into their hands.
Though heartened by the swift response of relevant Government agencies, we expect that those in the breach will be condemningly dealt with and be made to answer for their actions. The incident highlights the need for greater scrutiny of what takes place in our workplaces, especially in the interior. Of course, the sad situation, we note, cannot be delinked from the dismantling of the Ministry of Labour by the former Government. Indeed, the ghosts of the scant regard paid to workers’ rights continues to haunt us.
