“As we celebrate this May Day, let the workers and leaders of the labour movement of Guyana resolve to focus on the best interest of their members and strengthening the movement for the challenges of the future,” the PNCR has said.
Labour Day is a time when workers should be able to celebrate the consolidation of their rights, increased wages and benefits, improved working conditions, the protection of pension rights and the general progress of the labour movement, the party noted.
In its message to mark Labour Day, being observed today, the party said this was not the case as “May Day 2009 found workers without any of these gains. Moreover, they are forced to live on miserly wages, as the Jagdeo administration has turned its back on the working class and continues to ignore the poor and the powerless.”
According to the opposition party, workers will therefore have to take stock of this parlous situation and formulate plans and programmes to ensure the revitalisation of the movement and its independence.
It reminded workers of the CLICO debacle, the fragility of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the ongoing rift in the trades union movement, which it said was a result of government undermining.
The PNCR assured workers and unions that the right to strike is not negotiable for it is guaranteed by Article 147 of the Constitution of Guyana. “Let it be clear to all genuine members of the labour movement in Guyana that it would require unity of purpose to successfully defend their rights.”