Dear Editor,
There is something happening right now in the labour movement that is sinister and lawless. This has placed labour at a new crossroads and if the forces of law and order do not raise their voices the country faces a lawless future.
The Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union is on strike to protest the union’s displeasure with the arbitration ruling. This is unprecedented. Arbitration is legal and binding with both sides fully aware they have to honour the results. The silence of the government to GAWU’s disrespect for the arbitration ruling is troubling.
The Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union is on strike to protest the failure of the Bauxite Company Guyana Inc to pay a wages increase and the company’s move to de-recognize the union. This is also unprecedented. By law the employer and employees’ representative, ie, the union of the employees’ choice, are bound by the Collective Labour Agreement to negotiate wages, salaries and working conditions. The employer’s disrespect for the law with its refusal to negotiate wage increases and attempt to ‘fire’ the workers’ union with the apparent support of the government is troubling.
Workers deserve better pay and improved working conditions. It is understood that sometimes they have to strike for these benefits. What workers do not need are leaders who will use them to violate legal agreements and leaders who will support an employer to violate its legal agreement with them. Two things being disrespected here are the workers and the law, and the country needs both of them to survive.
Yours faithfully,
Dindial Naipaul
