The awesome one-man crusade for the colony’s under-privileged workers was launched by Dr Cheddi Jagan during his initial legislative tenure, 1947-1953, against both the colonial administration and big business. He truly became a working-class intellectual and agitator.
Today Jagan’s lifelong struggle for the working-class is merely a word, but not an actual manifestation of his active work for his people. He experienced the pain and suffering the poor endured over a long period of time. He opined that for a government and his ministers to give proper representation to the electorate, they should be fully aware of working-class conditions and problems; have a thorough knowledge of the theory and practice of comparative government with a special emphasis on the poor; constantly identify their grievances and aspirations; and be sincere and honest of purpose.
Dr Jagan’s personal manifesto dealt with constitutional changes, agriculture, education, housing, medical service, health standards and equal pay for equal work. He never departed from his conviction that everything must be done to advance the interests of the ordinary working man and woman if Guyana was to progress economically and otherwise. He also was firm in his belief that trade union movement must be united to fully realize the interests of the workers. Unfortunately, today we are again experiencing a rift in the trade union movement because some unions are unhappy with the way the government and the Ministry of Labour are operating.
I sincerely hope that the government that Dr Jagan left behind, would do everything possible to work with the grassroots and the working-class people to bring about genuine unity in Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
