Dear Editor,
As a former trade unionist I am deeply concerned as to where we are heading. In my association with former fellow trade unionists, we were taught that there must be a working relationship between two parties. I mention a few of the people who helped me along the way in my study of trade unionism: JH Pollydore and W Carrington of T&GWU; Stonewall Jackson, PSU; Alex Perry, GWU; Benjamin, MWU; R Ishmael and C Charran, MPCA; G De Peana and G Todd, CCWU; M Levius and G Agard, GLU; B Bangaree, NACCIE; G Weeks, OFWU (Trinidad & Tobago); E Anderson and Mrs Nelson Bustamante, Industrial Workers Union (Jamaica).
It seems to me that there is no relationship between the executives of the Guyana Labour Union and City Hall. If it were so, then the union would have sat down with City Hall and tried hard to find a solution to the council’s financial problems in the interest of its membership, and not have the General Secretary of the union and the Mayor hurling insults at each other while the workers suffer.
In our days we had no fancy cars to drive around in; we had to go on foot. Now the unions are collecting fat union dues while their memberships suffer. Are we going back to the old days of tugging and fighting each other for space, while the working class becomes the scapegoat?
In passing I must make mention of the fact that no official of the unions or any organization has ever been regarded by his or her contemporaries as an absolute ruler.
Yours faithfully,
David Noel
