The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) is calling on the Trades Union Movement to use Labour Day to address better wages and a cost of living allowance to cushion the effects of the rising cost of living. The opposition party said too that any action that is taken by the unions should be done on the foundation of Trade Union unity.
In a press release, the PNCR said that it joins all Guyanese workers as well as those of the region and the world in celebrating Labour Day.
It said that this occasion is when the workers of the world and the organizations which represent them take stock of their situations and conditions and resolve to take strong and determined actions to ensure that their gains are preserved, and that the fight continues for a better future.
According to the PNCR, the rising food prices, the 16% Value Added Tax (VAT) and global economic issues are affecting the Guyanese worker tremendously.
“Even before the advent of the current global economic events, characterized by the sub-prime crisis, the general instability of the global financial system, and the food crisis, the Guyanese worker was caught up in a vicious struggle to survive and ensure his or her material betterment. Indeed, with the introduction of the unconscionable 16% Value Added Tax (VAT) in 2007 the cost of living in Guyana spiked, considerably undermining the ability of our workers to provide for their families and sustain themselves… and yet the Jagdeo administration has not recognized that it is necessary to take the required measures to reduce the VAT tax to 8% and therefore bring a measure of relief to the workers of this country”, the release said.
Further it added that in these circumstances, the PNCR urges the Trade Union Movement and the workers they represent to speak out boldly on this occasion for better wages and some form of cost of living allowance to cushion the effect of the rising cost of living. “The Trade Union Movement must also demand that the workers be empowered to be in a position to cope with the ongoing global crisis in food, which has been recognized by all the major International Organizations in the world, including the United Nations, and which has already sparked riots in many countries”, it said.
The PNCR said that the workers must accept that “the extended fracture in the Trade Union Movement is not to their benefit but creates the conditions for the Jagdeo administration to keep the trade unions weak while carrying out an assault on them in the form of the withdrawal of the subvention for the TUC and the imposition of meager wage increases”.
The release added that the party believes that the occasion of Labour Day offers the Trade Union Movement another opportunity to raise its voice boldly for the restoration of that subvention, collective bargaining rights and the check-off system for the Guyana Public Service Union.
On this occasion, the PNCR said that it recognizes the critical role that Trade Unions have played in the political, economic and social development of the country and asserts that such a role can only continue if the Trade Union Movement remains united and protects the interests of the workers.
