The ruling PPP says that the Guyanese working class has much to celebrate as the rights of workers have been respected and upheld by the government which has demonstrated its working class sympathies by its actions.
In its May Day message, the PPP also stated that at this time when food prices throughout the world have skyrocketed, the government has taken bold steps to ease its impact on the Guyanese people.
“The authorities have removed all taxes from diesel, the main fuel used in the production process, including industrial transportation, (and) taxes on gasoline have been sharply cut,” the party said.
It observed too that the government has also been doing much work to ensure that Guyana generates cheaper electricity through the conversion of many diesel sets to heavy fuel and at the same time much work is being done to develop renewable energy sources.
And basic food items have been zero-rated in an effort to reduce the cost of living, the PPP added.
Moreover, the government has taken the initiative to cushion the vulnerable in the society and single parents are being considered for some special treatment to deal with this situation which has its roots outside of Guyana, the party pointed out.
“But at this time,” the PPP said, “the labour movement is divided and this division was due to the fact that the Guyana Trades Union Congress remains locked into the past when large democratic unions were kept out of its executive.”
“While the society has been going through profound democratic changes the TUC rules still remain undemocratic,” the PPP charged, adding that the unity of the movement was important for the working people.
