…federation can’t ‘wait indefinitely’
President of FITUG, Carvil Duncan yesterday preached a different kind of trade union unity, urging workers who fall under the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) to join FITUG now, as there might come a time when this was no longer possible since the federation would not “wait indefinitely”.
Duncan was speaking to some 400 workers at the National Park where the federation held its May Day rally. As has become the norm in recent years, the umbrella bodies held their rallies at different locations.
The FITUG rally was at the National Park, while the GTUC’s was held at Critchlow Labour College (CLC). The workers had marched as one along the same route before going in different directions while on Albert Street.
As it had stated earlier, the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCCW) did not participate in either rally. But even as its leaders turned left into Woolford Avenue, some workers were inclined to follow their colleagues heading to the CLC and had to be urged to move on.
FITUG-affiliated unions marched behind those that fell under the GTUC and from the placards held by most of those workers, they face no real challenges in their work environs. Most of the placards promoted the rights of persons living with HIV, while some proclaimed “Viva [Free] Cuba”. Some called for the end of domestic violence and the control of food prices. These workers marched and gyrated to the “Radika” melodies — four popular Chutney songs out of Trinidad that tell the saga of a woman who left her husband because he was a drunkard and mistreated her and whether she was right to do so.
At the National Park, Duncan and President of GAWU Komal Chand were the main speakers. While in their speeches they both noted the debilitating effects of the global financial crisis on workers they said that Guyanese workers had a lot to be thankful for as they remained untouched by the crisis.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and later President Bharrat Jagdeo along with others in the government were present at the rally, but did not address the workers, as has been customary in previous years.
‘Trying times’
Duncan in his address said workers around the world were facing trying times as they have to deal with a crisis that they have not created and one that they are only the victims of. He pointed out that the crisis is threatening workers’ jobs and family lives.
“But there is hope, even though in the Caribbean a lot of people are saying the crisis is worse than that of the 1930s, we here in Guyana can say we have not lost jobs and there have even been increases in salaries in some quarters,” Duncan said. He pointed out that while in other countries such as the UK and the US millions are losing their jobs, Guyanese workers are not going through such experiences and, according to him, this is because of the policies of FITUG. He said the federation has always had at the forefront, ensuring that workers’ social and economic standards are not derailed.
Addressing the dispute between FITUG and the GTUC, Duncan – a once staunch backer of the GTUC – said that during his tenure as president of FITUG he had endeavoured to advance the cause of trade union unity. He said he would demit office this year with a “bleeding heart, knowing that FITUG is decisively stronger than the [G]TUC in terms of membership, in terms of the strategic sectors we represent in this economy…”
He said workers represented by the GTUC needed FITUG more than FITUG needed GTUC as that’s “the reality of the labour movement as we stand today.”
Speaking on the same issue, Chand said FITUG has given full support to Sir Leroy Trotman, General Secretary of the Barbados Workers Union (BWU), who acted as mediator in the cause to reunite the unions. Chand said the efforts of Sir Leroy have not been fruitful as the support from the GTUC, if any, was not encouraging and could not lead to reunification.
“The [G]TUC appears to be divided itself; as could be gauged from its President and the General Secretary. It is time for unions affiliated to the [G]TUC to take note … of what is taking place in the [G]TUC’s leadership. In the interest of their members, they may want to consider collaboration with the unions of FITUG to reunite and reinvigorate the trade union movement in Guyana,” Chand said.
According to Chand, while FITUG represents some 34,000 workers the GTUC represents just 15,000 workers and he added that a united front will not only speak on behalf of a large number of workers but also with one voice in Guyana and the world.
Critchlow Labour
College
Duncan said the situation of the Critchlow Labour College was one of grave concern. Before the college was set up in 1960, he said, workers’ education was conducted skimpily and under stressful conditions. Now today workers’ education is never even conducted at the college. He opined that the trouble with the college surrounds the composition of the Board of Directors and while the GTUC wants the government to contribute significantly to the upkeep of the college, at the same time it wanted to maintain total control of the institution, based on the concept of non-interference.
“We all know the old adage that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’. In this case the piper [the government] wants transparency in the management of the college; the piper wants representation on the board so that the piper could be fully apprised of developments at the college; the piper wants to know how past allocations were spent,” Duncan said. And he questioned whether the government should continue paying the bills if it cannot get those simple things done.
Meanwhile, Chand urged the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to focus its attention on the question of sugar cultivation in order to provide the new state-of-the art US$110M Skeldon sugar factory with adequate canes in order for it to realise the targeted output of 110,000 tonnes per annum. He also expressed his union’s disappointment with the previous Booker-Tate Management of the industry adding that the termination of the management contract was not only justifiable but overdue. The union, through Chand, demanded proper management of the sugar industry so as to ensure that good quality cane once again dominate the fields, rather than bush and grass “as is evident on so many fields in the industry.”
But even as the two union leaders addressed their workers, who only filled one stand of the park, not many of them paid attention. They carried on their own conversations and at one point a one-man band entertained some of the workers much to their amusement even as Duncan spoke.
Comedian Henry Rodney received all the attention of the workers when he took the stage to entertain them at the end of the speeches; they jumped, clapped and erupted in laughter as he entertained them.
According to General Secretary of NAACIE, Kenneth Joseph, who chaired the proceedings, the workers had gathered at the park to discuss issues while they “are dry and talk while you are wet”, hence the presence of bars in the park.
Also addressing the workers was the Chair of GAWU’s Women’s Forum, Gaitri Baron, who expressed similar sentiments to those of Duncan and Chand.